Beneath the Surface
by G.O.T. Nick
Summary: Sequel to Tokyo Tournament. A powerful force of darkness approaches, and to combat it all the forces of good must stand together...and even then, it may not be enough.
1. Prologue: Nightmares

Disclaimer: What? You think I OWN Yu-Gi-Oh? Listen, lawyer-boy, if I owned Yu-Gi-Oh, half the characters wouldn't exist, I'd be the youngest millionaire in the world and become some sort of celebrity so YOU WOULDN'T HAVE TO ASK, and there would be cussing, blood, and other senseless American culture. SO GO OUT AND SHOVE IT!

Greetings, readers! Here it is, the sequel to Tokyo Tournament. I actually first wrote this prologue while Tokyo Tournament was still in progress, simply because I was bored. But now it's been slightly altered…a lot. Yeah…anyways, here we go!

**Beneath the Surface  
****By G.O.T. Nick**

**Prologue: Nightmares**

_Void. An empty expanse of colorless, infinite blankness. Unlike space, there is no darkness, because there is no light. _

_Then, somewhere within the mass, a black thing appears. It is a shapeless thing that morphs its form constantly. Throughout its changing, it begins to absorb the area around it. And as it consumes, it grows._

_Now beings of light appear to battle the darkness. They are small in number, but attack the darkness with enormous fervor. Their attempts are in vain, though, and the black mass begins to slaughter and devour them, one by one._

_Finally only one stands against the darkness, and it is easily trampled over. The darkness, having defeated its foes, moves on, leaving only the remains of the final defender behind…_

_With the darkness gone, the remains of the final defender stirred…and something emerged from it…_

-…Akasaka, Japan…-

Nick woke up. "Damn…" he muttered quietly as he sat up in his bed and wiped the sweat off of his forehead. He glanced at the red numbers of the digital alarm clock and suppressed a groan. 3:07 am.

He closed his eyes and tried to sleep again, but his attempts, as always, were futile. Ever since the tournament in Tokyo six months ago, he had had the same dream, every night, and always woke up at the exact same point. The dream frustrated him on so many levels. He could never get back to sleep after having the dream, leaving him drowsy the remainder of the day. Then there was the fact that he knew the dream meant something, but could never figure out what. The only thing he could interpret was that the darkness probably had something to do with the suited man that had appeared after the tournament had ended…

* * *

_  
Suddenly, all those that were advancing on Youkai were picked up by some invisible force and thrown aside. Surprised but relieved, Youkai looked at his savior…and fell to his knees. "Master!" he cried, "You've come to rescue me! Oh, thank you! I promise I can defeat the pharaoh if you just give me one more chance to do so…" The one he was speaking to looked quite ordinary. It was a man, about six feet tall, with combed-back black hair. He wore a black business suit with a red tie, he was clean-shaven, and he walked so casually it almost seemed he was bored. However, his lips seemed to be permanently lifted at the edges, so that at the same time he looked constantly amused by something._

_Youkai continued to ramble on about being given a second chance, but the man hardly seemed to be listening. After slowly pacing towards Youkai, he finally looked down at the being of darkness and said, very quietly, "Oh, shut up." And with that, he poked Youkai's forehead with his finger. Youkai howled in pain at the contact, and his body seemed to warp and change into painful positions before he vanished completely._

_The man turned to face the group he had flung aside, and spoke, "I think we'll be seeing each other again soon." He waved his hand once, "Tootles." And then he was gone._

_

* * *

_

The rest was a mystery. So he, Shaun, Giyan, Yamato, Lin, Kirbin, and Term had decided to remain in Tokyo, each opting to stay in their own apartment. Joy, the girl who Kirbin had met and fallenin love withat the tournament, was currently staying with the pink-haired teen. Nick had kept in contact with them, but hadn't seen any of those he had gathered to protect the former pharaoh of Egypt, Yami, for the past several months…with one exception…

Shaun, who lay in the other bed in the room, let out a loud snore, shattering any and all hopes Nick had of possibly getting to sleep. Because he was still a minor, albeit a very strange one with many capabilities not even Nick was completely familiar with, Shaun had had to stay with one of the older duelists. He had chosen Nick, whom he was most familiar with and whom he believed would be the least boring to be around. The reason being that Nick was the most susceptible to Shaun's capability to annoy people.

Nick mumbled several words in an incoherent dialect brought on by drowsiness and frustration, and kicked the sheets off of his body. He then clumsily swung his legs over the side of the bed, and forced his torso to right itself. Then came the process of standing. If he wasn't going to sleep, he was going to be awake, not halfway between for four hours as he had been too many times in the past several months. His legs straightened, and he stood, somewhat unevenly. Without the sheets to cover him, it suddenly felt very cold. _'Damn radiator,'_ he thought to himself. He groped in the dark for a red jacket that hung on the bedpost, and tugged it on methodically. Then he made his way through the room to the bathroom. His shins assisted him in finding various obstacles.

After many muttered vulgarities that were drowned out by Shaun's snores, Nick reached the bathroom, and closed the door behind him before flipping on the light switch. Now with a door between he and the bedroom, he did not hesitate to curse as the sudden burst of light temporarily blinded him. "SHIT!" He squinted his right and only eye, shutting out most of the light.

Thus he was able to navigate his way to the sink, and he splashed a bit of water in his face. His eye became accustomed to the light, and he looked up at the mirror. His reflection stared groggily back at him. It was a strange image. His skin was a distinct tan shade, a tone uncommon to Japan. His scalp was covered by long, blonde hair, which hung over his forehead. Most of it was swept to the left so that it wouldn't cover his right eye. Sometimes Nick wondered vaguely if this skin-hair combination led some to believe he was some type of male Ganguro…

His most distinct facial feature was the eye patch, however, that covered his left eye. It was held to his face by a wide and strong yet thin strap, fit to his head. It was held secure by a buckle at the back of his head. The patch itself was slightly thicker than the strap, so that it thoroughly covered the eye. It was simple, conventional, and yet it covered a quarter of his face and made it impossible not to look intimidating.

This was the way Nick chose to appear, for reasons he never revealed to anyone. For reasons he forced himself to show to himself every day. He reached for the back of his head and undead the small buckle that held his eye patch in place. It clicked apart, and Nick removed the patch from his face. Beneath was a repulsive sight – a ruined eye, burnt and cut to an extent that it more closely resembled a broken blister than an organ. It was a deep red shade, with a few uncut areas a lighter color, and the surrounding flesh out to his nose, cheek, and temple was burnt black. His right eye moved independently of the other, the four muscles controlling it no longer able to function due to lack of practical use.

Because of the injuries Nick had lost nearly half of his field of vision, and in addition his depth perception was limited. He had dealt. It was not physical limitations that plagued him because of his lost eye, it was the accompanying mental terrors; because in addition to the dreams about the future, he was having some preceding them that regarded the past. Nick used his left hand to brush back his bangs, and with the right began to trace a path he knew all too well down his face. He lifted his fingers at several integrals, in their wake revealing a network of scars that he had hidden from the world ever since he had received them. Only two other people had ever known about these scars. One was dead, and the other had shown him how to cover them. But nothing could be done about the eye. His helper did not know enough about illusory magic to create the image of an operating eye.

Nick finished tracing the scars. They began at the ruined eye, the two largest traveling through it, one running from his temple all the way down his cheek and the other from the middle top of his forehead to just above the back of the cheek. The remaining were smaller, most looking like stabs made with a dagger, an occasional one being slightly longer. Two ran across his face, one going through his upper lip and the other along his jaw. All told there were perhaps fifty scars, covering his entire face save the area around his unharmed right eye and his nose. There seemed to be a pattern to the scars, as the marks on his lower face were perfectly mirrored. These were marks he could never erase, only cover up, as he had done with cloth when he had competed in the tournament months ago, and with magic afterwards.

He was ashamed of the marks that tainted his skin. Ashamed both of his appearance and the memories. Ashamed that the memories had been haunting him each and every night. Ashamed still more that he was haunted by the future. Ashamed that the nightmares were defeating him. He forced himself to look at his face and his eye so that when the memories attacked him, they would not have as great an effect. In order to keep the door holding back the pains of the past from bursting apart, he had to crack it open every now and then to relieve some of the building pressure. The dreams were not so harmful now as when he had first experienced them, but after six months, he was growing tired. The only way to avoid dreams is to not sleep, and this is impossible for the mortal and weak.

Nick finished examining the marks covering his face, then traced back over them with his fingers, shrouding all except the scars that were actually on his eye. He put the eye patch back on, and clicked off the light. Feeling slightly more calm and at peace, he left the bathroom, and made his way swiftly back to his bed. Nick wished, ironically, that the suited man would hurry up with his damn plan so he could just deal with it instead of putting up with the anticipation, the memories, the foresights, the nightmares. As the thought occurred to him while he sat down on his bed, he smirked and chided himself, _'Be careful what you wish for…'_

Nick began to change his clothes, trading his nightwear for street clothing. As he pulled on his shoes, he glanced at the alarm clock again. 3:15 am. He sighed, and pulled his Duel Disk out of a dresser. He put it on and grabbed his deck off the nightstand. He was tired, but he wasn't going to get anything done here. Maybe he could release his frustration at a dueling arena. And even if he couldn't find someone to battle this way, there were sure to be some morons out at this time of night, just waiting for someone to give their money away as they fell to the pavement. Nick cracked his knuckles and made his way to the door. He opened it, making sure he had his key with him, and went out into the night.

* * *

_  
Nick has awaited the coming of an evil force for months, and his waiting will end soon. But as he, Yugi, and the others are exposed to the true magnitude of the coming assault, they realize that they are not enough to impede its success. What can they do to defeat the mysterious evil?_

_Next time: Battle the Darkness-Rally the Troops!_

Yes! I have done it! I have…posted…the…pro…logue…yay…

But still, it's better than nothing, right? Expect chapter 1 soon. See ya!


	2. Battle the DarknessRally the Troops!

For disclaimer, see the beginning of this story. Bastard.

I'd like to wish everyone reading this Happy Holidays, no matter what manner in which they celebrate (but the first person to complain about me not saying "Merry Christmas" gets slapped).

**Beneath the Surface**  
**by G.O.T. Nick**

**Chapter One: Battle the Darkness-Rally the Troops!**

Nick sighed as his opponent took the first move. He had thus far encountered about twenty duelists, and not an ounce of skill between them. He planned to get in this one last duel, then go back to his apartment. It was 6:13 am. He and his opponent had drawn quite a crowd. Apparently this man had more dueling prowess than all the others in the dueling complex.

The burly man that was Nick's opponent examined his hand and smirked. Then he selected half of the six cards in his hand and proceeded to place them in his Duel Disk. "Two spell or trap cards facedown, and I summon the mighty Berserk Gorilla (2000/1000)!" he declared as two holographic cards appeared, brown backs up. This was followed by the materialization of a brown, eight-foot-tall gorilla, which roared angrily and beat its chest in challenge.

The man crossed his arms over his chest, and Nick took this to signal that the man was done. _'Pathetic…'_ he thought to himself. He could tell from the way the man seemed itching to take his next turn that he planned to simply launch an all-out assault. _'Alright then, I'll let you blow yourself out.'_ He drew, and after briefly looking over his hand, set two cards into his Duel Disk, then placed another horizontally on top of it. "Two cards facedown, and a monster in defense mode. End turn."

His opponent smirked confidently, and drew. "Ha!" he yelled triumphantly, "You're going down this turn! I summon a second Berserk Gorilla (2000/1000)!" Another ape, identical to the one he had summoned his last turn, appeared next to the original. Both bellowed loudly, beat their chests and clawed at the ground, eager to attack their opponent. "My Berserk Gorillas are forced to attack each turn due to their effect," stated Nick's opponent, grinning and fingering a card in his hand, "but before I unleash their power, I'll play Wild Nature's Release, which will increase the attack of my Gorillas by their defense strength (3000/1000 x2)!" The gorillas roared as their muscles expanded and their eyes, already bloodshot, glowed a blazing red color.

"Now, my mighty apes!" yelled the man with gusto and a sweep of his arm, "Attack!" Both beasts hurled themselves towards Nick, one pouncing on his facedown monster, which it ripped apart quickly. The other bounded towards Nick, but was stopped suddenly by an overly large tomato with a wicked face on its front. The gorilla hesitated only a split-second before it picked the vegetable up by its stem and pounded it against the ground, causing juice to burst everywhere.

Noticing his opponent's confused expression, Nick explained, "My facedown monster was Mystic Tomato (1400/1100). After it is destroyed in battle, it summons a Dark monster with 1500 or less attack points from my deck in attack mode. So when the facedown Tomato was destroyed, I summoned a second one to block the next strike." A single card was ejected from his deck, and he caught it offhandedly. "Since the Tomato was in attack mode, my Life Points are decreased, but I also get to summon another Dark monster from my deck." (Nick LP: 2600) He slapped the new monster onto his Duel Disk, and a wooden marionette, resembling a Kuriboh, appeared in front of him, dangling from a set of strings. "This is my Marionette Kuriboh (300/200)."

His opponent did not seem impressed. "Big deal. I'll still beat you right here. I activate my facedown cards, both known as Beast Soul Swap!" Suddenly, both of his gorillas grew transparent, and shot back into his hand. Then, two strands of energy shot from the man's hand of cards, and two Berserk Gorillas stood, angry as ever. "Beast Soul Swap lets me return a Beast on the field to my hand, then replace it with another Beast of equal or lesser level. So I returned one Gorilla and replaced it with the third of the group, then returned the second Gorilla and replaced it with the first."

Nick nodded in understanding, thoroughly unimpressed. The combo was common amongst nearly all duelists who used primarily Beasts. The man frowned, angry that Nick was acting so casual about the action. "Not impressed, huh? Well, let's see what you have to say once I activate the quick-play spell, The Big March of Animals! This increases the attack of all Beasts on my field by 200 for every Beast on my field, so each of my Berserk Gorillas has 400 more attack points (2400/1000 x2)!" Nick remained calm, and yawned a bit thanks to his drowsiness.

This only assisted in making his opponent more frustrated. "Don't take me that fucking lightly, you punk! Berserk Gorilla, destroy his puny Kuriboh!" The immense primate hurled itself bodily at the small puppet, outright crushing it and sending splinters everywhere. Nick's Life Points plummeted (Nick LP: 500). Seeing the road open, the man thrust out his fist and declared, "Now my remaining Gorilla attacks you for game!" There was a short period of silence before the man realized that nothing had happened. "I SAID 'my remaining Gorilla attacks you for game!' "

"Spare your putrid breath," Nick told him, "your ape is under my control now." He motioned to the dazed-looking Gorilla now standing in front of him.

"But…how…" the man checked Nick's facedown cards, both of which remained set.

"My Marionette Kuriboh's effect" began Nick, "is that when it is destroyed in Battle, I can take control of one monster on my opponent's field. So, I chose the Berserk Gorilla that you hadn't attacked with yet. And, since the only card left in your hand is a monster you can't summon, I believe it's now my turn." He snapped a card off his deck and expressionlessly placed it on his Duel Disk. Immediately the Gorilla vanished in a swirl of lights, and in its place appeared a figure, mostly hidden by a red cape and hood. A pair of purple-gauntleted arms protruded from beneath the cape, and on the back of each gauntlet was an orb of a darker purple, with a triangular mark etched on their surfaces. The figure lifted its head, revealing a purple mask that hid all but the figure's eyes, one through a circular hole and the other through a pair of horizontal slits. "This is my Magical Marionette (2000/1000)," Nick declared proudly. It was the first time the whole night he had gotten the chance to summon his favorite monster. In all the other duels he had drawn his weaker Fire monsters, although they had easily been enough to defeat his opponents.

The man scowled, "Oh please, that thing's got the same attack points as my monster. It won't do you any good."

Nick chuckled at the man's naiveté. "Magical Marionette gains a counter each time either of us plays a Spell," he explained. "Each has two functions. For every counter my Marionette possesses, he gains 200 attack points, and I can remove two counters from him to destroy any monster on the field. So, I think I'll just start producing some counters." He pressed a button on his Duel Disk, causing one of his set cards to flip up, "My facedown card is Puppet Swarm, which allows me to summon four Marionette Tokens (0/0) to my field." A quartet of white marionettes appeared around the Magical Marionette. Each bore a pair of daggers larger than their own bodies, and sets of glowing strings connected them to the larger monster's outstretched fingers.

"Because Puppet Swarm is a Spell, Magical Marionette gains one counter (2200/1000)," stated Nick, "and furthermore, each Marionette Token can produce a counter to any monster with 'Marionette' in its title once per turn, so now my Marionette gains four more counters." The four puppets glowed, and sent pulses of energy through the strings connecting them to the Marionette (3000/1000). "And now for the finishing touch," Nick stated, waving to his facedown card, which flipped up, "Time Jump immediately sends the turn count ahead by three. That means every Marionette Token produces three more counters to my Magical Marionette (5400/1000)." An immense aura surrounded the puppeteer spellcaster as waves of power coursed through its body.

"I remove two of Magical Marionette's counters to destroy Berserk Gorilla," Nick continued. He cast out his arm, and the Marionette (5000/1000) raised both of its own, summoning a fifth puppet which flew towards Berserk Gorilla. "Mystic Puppet Slayer!" The puppet's blades flashes, and the Gorilla fell apart before bursting into crystalline bits. "You people just aren't worth my time," Nick said with disgust, "Magical Marionette, end it now!" The four tokens dashed towards his opponent, and whirled about him rapidly, entangling him in the strings that connected them to the Marionette. The puppeteer's gauntlets glowed brightly, and it sent volts of electricity coursing through the strings, shocking the man and ending the duel (Man LP: 0).

The holograms faded, and Nick's opponent fell, dazed, to the ground. Nick himself shut down his Duel Disk and zipped up his jacket before promptly leaving the building. _'None of them could really challenge me. The other three cards in my hand during that last duel could have stopped the last one in his tracks before he even began the assault, but were simply unnecessary.'_ He stopped outside the building and looked back inside it through a window. Many of those still inside were staring at him, and quickly averted their vision. _'They think I'm some ultimate duelist. Feh, if only that were true.'_ He began to walk off, while his mind wandered back to that tournament in Tokyo six months ago. He had done well against two champion-caliber duelists in the pharaoh and Joey Wheeler, but in the end only luck had let him beat the latter, and the former hadn't needed to use his full power to achieve victory. _'I have improved since then, but doubtlessly so have they. The pharaoh was able to defeat Youkai, but only barely…and then his superior dismissed him casually. I doubt I am strong enough to defeat him in a duel…'_

The sun was rising. Snow was falling lightly on Akasaka. Nick smiled slightly. He had never seen snow before he had come to Japan. _'Damn, like I needed more pressure.'_ He chuckled lightly, _'So beautiful…and if we don't win, there won't be anyone who can enjoy something like this.'_ He brushed a few snowflakes off of his head, then pulled his jacket's hood up and shoved his hands in the pockets before briskly walking off. In spite of the fact that he admired the snow, this was weather much colder than he was used to, and he felt that his clothing was not apt to deal with it.

The sidewalks were still not very crowded yet. Nick's head turned consistently to both sides, a necessary motion, because the use of only one eye, combined with a lack of peripheral vision thanks to his hood, gave him a field of vision less than ninety degrees wide. But this did not stop him from noticing that he was being followed. He stopped walking suddenly, and tilted his head a bit. After a few seconds, he relaxed, and chuckled slightly, "When trying to be stealthy," he said openly, "it doesn't matter if you're invisible while making more noise than a sick elephant." He turned around, in time to see the form of a young Egyptian woman materializing. She was about five and a half feet tall, had long black hair, and wore white clothing, with a golden band around her forehead with a symbol of a golden eye upon it. She was frowning at Nick as if disappointed that he had been able to detect her, but her eyes were lit slightly in amusement.

"Hello, Isis," Nick greeted. For indeed, it was Isis Ishtar, former holder of the foresight-granting Millennium Eye, that now stood before him.

She nodded her own greeting, "Hello, Nick. How are you feeling lately?"

"Tired, as usual," he responded, and he turned and began walking to his apartment again, though more slowly. Isis followed him as they talked.

"Still having the dreams?" Isis queried.

Nick nodded. "The same every night. Like clockwork."

"I'm sorry," she said, "I can't prevent you from having them. Nor can I fully tell you what they mean."

"You don't have to apologize," he replied, "you've done far more than enough to help me in the past." He removed a hand from his jacket pocket and brushed his cheek, where the scars were hidden. He stuck the hand back in his pocket. "Now skip the pleasantries. You're never anxious to see me at this time of day, it's always me that comes to see you. So I'm assuming something's happened."

Isis frowned at the first comment, but found herself unable to argue the point. She nodded her agreement, then realizing because she was to Nick's left that he couldn't see the gesture, voiced it. "Yes."

"I figured," Nick commented, "strange, how our group never really seems to come together unless it's for a bad reason. Whatever. Maybe we can take care of that after all this is over." _'If we're still alive'_ he mentally added. But then he brushed away the thought and continued speaking, "Is it as bad as we thought?"

"Worse."

"Typical. Alright, tell me what I have to do."

* * *

Yugi Moto, fifteen years of age, picked up the phone on the first ring. "Kame Game Shop," he chirped brightly, "Yugi Moto speaking. Can I help you?"

On the other line, Nick had to smile a bit at the boy's light attitude. "How are you, kid?"

"Oh, hi Nick!" Yugi greeted enthusiastically, "I'm good, how-" he was cut off as his Millennium Puzzle glowed, and his voice was replaced by a deeper, more mature one.

"Is it time?" demanded the former pharaoh of Egypt, currently known as Yami.

"Yes," Nick replied simply, the pharaoh having abruptly ended the pleasantries. "Pharaoh, Yugi, gather your friends and tell them to meet today at noon at the entrance to Kaiba World. I'll explain everything there."

"Very well," Yami replied simply, and hung up without another word.

'_He's as anxious as I am,'_ Nick thought to himself as he dialed in another number on his cell phone. He had already called Kaiba, and had convinced him to meet them as well. Nick guessed that Kaiba's reasons for joining them were in regard to vengeance, for the harm that had come to he and his brother during the tournament.

Nick waited, listening to the ring tone. This was the last call he would have to make. He heard a click in the middle of the fifth ring. A small pause, then, "What?"

"Giyan," Nick said, but it was not a greeting. The young man apparently didn't care about greetings at the moment, "I need you to get Yamato, Lin, Kirbin, and Term, and meet me at the entrance to Kaiba World in Domino at noon."

"So, it's coming, is it?" Giyan prompted.

'_He's acting a bit strange…'_ Nick thought to himself. Giyan wasn't usually so quick to the point… "Yes," he replied simply.

"Sorry, Nick," Giyan stated, "but we can't join you."

Nick almost dropped his phone in shock. "What? What do you mean?"

Giyan's voice did not waver, was trapped in monotone as he spoke. "We aren't strong enough."

"Don't give me that shit!" Nick yelled. "I know we aren't strong enough, but that doesn't give you an excuse to hide you damned coward!"

"Don't jump to conclusions," Giyan warned, though his tone still hadn't changed, "we'll join you in time to help, but myself and the others have a few things to do first. If he try to help as we are now, we'll do you little good. We will join you, that I can promise, but this will take up to twenty-four hours. How long before you really need us?"

Nick sighed, but told him. "We'll join you as soon as possible," promised Giyan. Then there was a click, and nothing but a dial tone. Nick turned off his phone and tossed it onto his bed before falling on top of it himself. It was 7:00 am. He had five hours to get to Domino. He suddenly felt very tired, but pushed himself up off the bed to glance over at Shaun. He was still snoring loudly.

Nick huffed, and stood up. "Lucky bastard…" he muttered. He sat down on his bed. "I'll wake him up in two hours…"

* * *

The sun was almost directly over Yugi's head as he leaned against the stand of one of the multiple statues of Blue Eyes White Dragons at the front of Kaiba World. The young teen with star-shaped hair shuffled his dueling deck, while next to him, his slightly older and definitely taller friend, Tea Gardner, checked her watch. 11:56 am. So far, they were the only two who had arrived.

Unlike Nick, they had not been quite as idle the last few months. Rather, just days after the Tokyo Duel Monsters Tournament, a new enemy, known as Dartz, former king of Atlantis, had attempted to do what all of their enemies had done: take over the world. Technically, Dartz had meant well enough, having only wanted to wipe away all the evil upon the face of the Earth. Unfortunately, the ends did not justify his means, and so Yami, with the help of his friends and Kaiba, had been forced to stop Dartz and his dark god.

It was 11:57 am by the time Tristan Taylor arrived, riding a motorcycle. Riding on the back of his bike was Serenity Wheeler, who stepped off shortly before the older teen as the bike stopped. As both removed their helmets, a second motorcycle, guided by a skilled duelist named Joey Wheeler, parked nearby. The blonde duelist removed his helmet quickly, set it on his bike, and stomped towards his friend and sister angrily. As he reached Tristan, he grabbed the brown-haired teens collar with one hand, and held back the other in a clenched fist as if poised to strike him. "WHAT'D I TELL YA WOULD HAPPEN IF YOU GOT YOUR DAMN BIKE WITHIN A HUNDRED FEET'A MY SISTER?" he screamed in Tristan's face.

Tristan smiled uneasily, and held up both hands to guard his face. "I…think you said you'd let it go without resorting to violence…" Joey responded to this by growling and preparing to launch his fist forward before his sister stopped him.

"It was my idea, Joey," Serenity spoke up, "you were so slow getting out of your bed, I thought we'd be late if we didn't find a way to get your attention."

Joey gradually became calmer, and he grudgingly loosened his grip on Tristan's shirt before shoving him away. He crossed his arms over his chest and pouted like a kid half his age. "I was having a good dream…" he muttered in protest.

In any case, the three of them walked up to Yugi and Tea before the time became 11:58 am, at which time a teenager with long, spiky, white hair also approached. This was Ryou, a friend of the group that had gathered in front of Kaiba World by this time.

* * *

At this moment, the story is interrupted so that the author can discuss a matter with one of the characters…

"What are you trying to pull?" demanded Bakura, spirit of the Millennium Ring that young Ryou possessed. "You know damn well that you named that kid 'Bakura' in your last story, and instead of 'Bakura', I'm supposed to be Wraith!"

G.O.T. Nick stared at him evenly, and said, very calmly, "And why do you think the fact has changed since then?"

Bakura huffed, "Because you're a moron who wanted to write a name shorter than 'Yami Bakura' every time you referred to me, but didn't want to bother to go back to the Japanese names."

"That's a logical argument," commended G.O.T. Nick, "but you forget one thing."

"What's that?"

"I'm the author," reminded G.O.T. Nick, "and so the reason is whatever I want it to be. Meanwhile, I don't like that comment you made about me." He snapped his fingers, and an anvil appeared over Bakura's head. The large metal object fell, burying Bakura's face in the ground.

The anvil soon vanished, and Bakura said, "Actually, the reason our names have changed is because my name was actually 'Bakura' the whole time, and I was just trying to be confusing. Ryou, not liking the fact that we shared names, got his name legally changed like a little pansy."

"Much better," said G.O.T. Nick. And he started the story again.

* * *

As Ryou approached Yugi and the others, two people exited one of Kaiba World's various arenas, and approached them as well. These were the owners of Kaiba World, the brothers Seto and Mokuba. Seto, more commonly referred to by his last name, wore a long white trench coat, and carried a large metal suitcase. His younger brother was as tall as the elder's waist. Kaiba looked at Yugi and nodded in greeting, "Yugi." Then he turned to Joey, nodded in the same way, and said, "Mutt."

"Hey, asshole," returned Joey. It was 11:59 am.

"Alright," said Kaiba, "this better be important, and that guy better get here soon. I don't like to be kept waiting."

"The wait's almost over, Kaiba," said Yugi, pointing towards the sky to an approaching plane.

Kaiba snarled, "If he tries to land that thing here, I'll kill him." It was 11:59 am and thirty seconds when the plane was almost directly overhead. Kaiba shielded his eyes from the glare of the sun with a free hand, in time to glance a figure leaping out of the side of the plane. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me…"

The figure fell for several seconds, before they saw a parachute sprout from its back, allowing it to float gradually down to Earth. Kaiba huffed, "Senseless showoff…"

"Aw, don't be a bitch, Kaiba," Joey said with a grin, "you're just jealous 'cause you didn't get to make an entrance like that."

* * *

Six figures had gathered in a circle around a seventh. They bowed in its presence, fearing for their lives, which it could end in a heartbeat-or, perhaps more appropriately, a lack of one. The central figure turned slowly, looking over each of its subordinates. After looking at the last one, it stopped, and breathed in deeply. Its face immediately warped in an expression of disgust. It hated the air here…it was far too clean… But that would change soon, along with so many more of this detestable world's traits.

"You six have been selected because of the potential within each of you," it said, "and you have come to serve because you know that this is the manner in which that potential can be achieved. Each of you will track down and eliminate your assigned target, and in doing so you will achieve this potential, as promised." Its tone suddenly shifted, changing from matter-of-fact to somewhat more personal, "What you do with this newly achieved power does not concern me. Do with it what you wish, but succeed in the tasks I have given you, or your punishment will be great." It grinned brightly, but a malicious gleam lingered in its eyes, "Any questions?"

"Yeah," spoke up one, who the central figure's gaze shot to. It had apparently meant the question to be rhetorical. But the outer figure continued, "How can we be completely assured that this power you spoken of will truly be granted to us? And if it is when the time comes, how we can we be assured that the power will be capable of all you have said? Or that it will last beyond the tasks you have assigned us?" The central figure's gaze had become a glare by this time, but the speaker plowed on, "We don't even know your name, you've avoided telling us everything surrounding you, your background, your organization-"

"You wish to know my name?" the central figure cut the speaker off by lunging towards him, their faces only inches apart. From here the speaker could see the man's black irises plainly, along with every single follicle of his neatly combed black hair. His red tie drooped down, loose from the jacket of the man's black business suit. And suddenly the speaker wished he could go back ten seconds in time to stop himself from speaking, because the fear he had forgotten just long enough to ask those now seemingly idiotic questions had flared back, and was gripping him ten times stronger than before.

"My name is…" and the man said it, but it was not something simply spoken. It was not all in one language, and a lot of it wasn't language at all. It was screams of terror, moans of despair, and roars of anger. Beasts' cries were heard as the man's jaw moved and his tongue rolled, along with the cries of monstrous apparitions not of this world. His name was pure emotion, specifically negative emotion, and could not simply be expressed in words, though there seemed to be a few snatches of words here and there. His name was fear, his name was lust, his name was anger, his name was greed, his name was vengeance, his name was a sound of pure evil. His name was almost tearing apart the minds of the six surrounding him, who writhed about in pain as sound continued to come forth from his mouth. Most affected was the one immediately before him, who felt the pain of being consciously burned, eviscerated, frozen, crucified, and dissolved, all at once. The name was killing him.

Eventually the man stopped, and those about him gasped in the air that disgusted him so, the sound having choked the life from them. The man walked out of the circle and did not look back. He had things to do. But he said loudly, so that they could all hear, "But if you find yourself unable to address me in that way, you may call me Todaku."

* * *

Yugi, Joey, Serenity, Tea, Tristan, Ryou, Kaiba, and Mokuba sat down in various chairs as Nick stood in front of them, a large computer screen on the wall behind him. Nick had no idea why this room happened to possess such a convenience, but Kaiba seemed to be the kind of person to flaunt his wealth. The screen was currently lit up, displaying an image of a small Egyptian painting, centered around a single, bald man. "Four thousand five hundred years ago," Nick began, "Egypt was ruled by the pharaoh Djoser. This image depicts his chief minister and high priest, a man by the name of Imhotep. Imhotep is today renowned as one of the first practitioners of medicine, and is the first architect known historically by name." He paused here, and the screen behind him flickered, now depicting a tan step pyramid. "Imhotep was responsible for the construction of the first Egyptian pyramid, meant to entomb Djoser after the ruler's death. This Step Pyramid is located at Sakkara, however Imhotep's own grave has yet to be located."

The screen flickered behind Nick again, and now showed a tablet covered in Egyptian hieroglyphics. "This tablet tells a tale of an event that occurred just less than three thousand years ago," he stated, "a relatively short time after the creation of the Millennium Items. The Egyptians discovered a gate, a gate that led into a realm of darkness. At first the Egyptian royalty attempted to utilize this gate to achieve dark power. While each time they made such a venture, they succeeded, they also allowed forces of pure evil to come into the planet. Deaths mounted quickly, and soon the attempts to gain power stopped. After slaying all the dark beings that had to this point entered the world, the gateway was sealed away, and hidden where no mortal could possibly discover it."

Nick paused, and looked over the faces of each of the young ones present. At this time he realized that he was older than any of the others in the room, bar the spirits of the millennia-old pharaoh and thief, despite the fact that he was only nineteen. Kaiba was the closest to his age, and if not for the presence about him anyone might assume that the CEO belonged in high school. _'They're my responsibility now,'_ he thought to himself, _'if and when they die, I must bear the burden of their departure.'_ He took a breath, and continued speaking, "This is what the approaching darkness seeks," he stated, "it falls upon us to stop it. The darkness will attempt to open the gateway permanently, allowing the Earth to be infested by forces of evil beyond your imaginations. It will succeed in doing so if we do not halt it. The world would already be destroyed by now if the darkness did not need to fulfill a prophecy that the tablet also speaks of. It states that the temple in which the portal now resides contains six locks, each of which can only be opened by a destined mortal. These past six months, the darkness has been gathering those destined six. He found the last one mere hours ago."

"Wait," Tea spoke up, "you said the portal was hidden where no one could find it. Doesn't that mean that even though that guy found all six of them, they won't be able to get near the gate?"

"The prophecy said that no mortal could find the gate," agreed Nick, "but the darkness is no mere mortal. It will possess the power to uncover the temple in which the portal is hidden, allowing the destined six to enter it."

"Wait a minute," Tristan spoke up, "what's all this got to do with Imhotep? I mean, you sounded like you were just giving us a random history lesson at the start there…"

"The prophecy states that Egypt's greatest commoner was chosen to guard the gate," Nick responded, "that's Imhotep, the most powerful non-royal to ever inhabit Egypt. Thus explaining why his corpse has, to this day, not been found. Imhotep's body was removed from his previous burial site, and then buried with the gate."

"And where is that?" asked Yugi suddenly, "The darkness can uncover the temple, but how will it know where to go to do that?"

"Imhotep was buried in a remote location," Nick stated, as suddenly a map of Egypt appeared on the screen behind him, "however, the location was also selected in order to honor him. He is buried an equal distance from three specific points." He pointed at three different points on the map, and spoke their names as he did so, "Sakkara, the site of Imhotep's Step Pyramid. Giza, the site of Egypt's three greatest structures, the Great Pyramids. And finally, Thebes, which was the capital of Egypt at the time." After he pointed at the last location, three lines of equal length appeared from each location. The converged in an area some distance to the east of the Nile River. "Imhotep's grave, and the gateway to the realm of darkness, are buried beneath a magical veil, as well as the sands of the Arabian Desert."

"Then what are we sitting here for?" demanded Mokuba as he leapt out of his seat, "Let's get there and stop that guy now!"

"For one thing, the prophecy states that the temple can only be uncovered as the sun sets, Nick answered calmly. "Given that Egypt is seven hours behind Japan, we have about thirteen hours until that time comes. For another thing, we have our own prophecy to fulfill. The prophecy states that in order to stop the six destined to unlock the gate, the forces of light must send into battle six more destined mortals." He stopped, and took a breath. "Fortunately for us, we have a method of locating each of the six destined. The six destined to stop the gate from opening are said to wear precious charms. Specifically, _these_ precious charms." At these words, he removed from his pockets five, small, glinting items. Each glowed with a faint aura. "Because the prophecy is close to being fulfilled, the charms are reacting. The closer they are to their owners' locations, the stronger they will glow."

The screen flickered again, and now depicted a map of Japan. Nick raised one of the several charms, and placed it over the screen. After Nick moved it around a bit, the charm glowed extremely brightly over the island of Shikoku. "In this manner, Isis and I determined the relative locations of the six we have to find. Shaun, who was flying the plane I arrived in earlier, is heading towards one of them right now." He lowered the charm, and turned to look at the gathered teenagers. "That leaves us to find the other five. Of them, three are located on the other side of the globe, which means the use of magic will be required to reach them in time."

At this mention of magic, Nick heard Kaiba finally scoff, but the CEO said nothing in contradiction. The idea of magic still seemed ludicrous to him, but it was getting extremely difficult to doubt its existence after all he had been through. Nick responded by turning to him and tossing him one of the glowing charms, which Kaiba caught, "Kaiba, because you've got the most resources, you'll be looking for the second-closest destined. They'll be in Shikoku, just as I showed you." He tossed Joey a second charm, "Joey, you'll be looking for the one closest to here."

Then Nick turned his attention to Yugi and Ryou. He walked up to Ryou and tapped the boy's Millennium Ring, which responded by glowing brightly. When the glow dissipated, Ryou had been replaced by the millennia-old thief Bakura, who looked temporarily astonished that Nick had forced him out of the Ring. But then he overcame his momentary shock, and lunged for the man. Nick wasted no time in striking Bakura hard across the face with a right punch. Bakura fell backwards to the ground immediately. "Alright, now that we've gotten that out of the way," Nick said as he grabbed Bakura by his collar and lifted him up off the ground, "I know you've got your own ambitions, but I also know you wouldn't like the world to end yet. As such, perhaps you should help us."

Bakura snarled, but nodded, and Nick dropped him. Bakura landed on his feet and dusted himself off, then wiped a small trickle of blood from his lip. "So, what is it you want from me?"

"As I said," Nick replied, "we need magic to find the three destined in North America. The pharaoh and myself are two of three people in this room who can use any form of magic. The third is you." He stepped away from the thief, then motioned to Yugi to come closer. The boy did so, and Nick requested that the boy grant control of his body to Yami.

Seconds later, Nick was speaking directly to the only two presences in the room older than himself, "I can teach you two a transportation spell, one that will allow you to teleport to any location on Earth. However, to limit the thief, I will only allow him to guide himself. I will initiate the teleportation for you, Bakura, and you will be responsible for reaching your destination. Think you can handle that?"

Bakura growled, wishing he could slit this man's throat. He was deliberately dangling this useful ability over his head just to deny it to him. _'Not yet…'_ Bakura told himself, _'I'll kill him later. For now, I'll put up with this insolent fool, just a little longer.'_

"Yami," Nick said, turning to the pharaoh, "I will teach you the spell, and you will travel individually. It will take some time to learn the spell, but I think we can do it within a few hours." He turned back to the rest of them, and said, more loudly, "This meeting is over. If you wish to accompany your friends in finding those we seek, you may do so, but you must exercise caution. We face a force more powerful than any have seen before, and should you stand in its path, I cannot ensure your safety." He stopped, and took the time to look over each of them again. After several seconds, he spoke four parting words, "Farewell, and good luck."

* * *

_The meeting ends, and those who attended it now must seek those with whom they will fight for the lives of the entire world. First to discover one of the six destined is Shaun, but before the strange teen can return to Nick and the others, the protector is attacked by a servant of the mysterious Todaku. Will the servant succeed in eliminating the protector before they can even try to halt the opening of the dark gate?_

_Next time: Power of the Dark Empire_

This chapter ended up being MUCH longer than expected, but I'm happy with it. Plus, I got to use actual historical facts in my story. Wait a second…I hate history class! NOOOO!


	3. Power of the Dark Empire

For disclaimer, see the beginning of this story. Bastard.

I forgot to say last chapter that original cards used in Nick's duel were Puppet Swarm and Marionette Kuriboh. Puppet Swarm is my own creation, and Marionette Kuriboh is the property of Seeker of the Soul. If at any time you want to use an original card in your own work, please ask its respective owner for permission before doing so. Same goes for original characters.

**Beneath the Surface  
****by G.O.T. Nick**

**Chapter Two: Power of the Dark Empire**

A tall man wearing a thick black winter coat that covered his entire body from the shoulder down walked calmly along the sidewalk. From beneath the thick cloth of his hat, which matched his coat, sharp green eyes glared out at the world. He mumbled incoherently to himself as he walked, complaining about the cold of the surrounding air. It would be difficult to blame the man for such comments, as it was evident that he was being severely annoyed by the thick layer of snow on either side of the sidewalk, as well as the snow that was falling on top of him. His hands were stuck deep into his coat's pockets, and his head was tucked down into it as far as it would go. Several minutes passed as the man trudged onward in this manner, until at the end of one of his paces, his black boot was unable to gain friction on the slick sidewalk. His right leg swept beneath him swiftly, and the man, unable to regain balance because his arms were trapped at his sides, fell gracelessly face-first into the snow to the right of the sidewalk.

After struggling for several seconds to free his hands from his pockets, the man pressed his arms against the snow and pulled his head out of the snow. Black locks fell over his eyes, as a result of the fact that his hat was still buried partially beneath the snow. The man snarled, grabbed the hat out of the snow, and pushed himself to his feet. Unfortunately, as he placed both feet on the sidewalk, one happened to fall upon the exact same area he had slipped upon before, and the man fell backwards into the snow on the opposite side of the sidewalk. Letting out a yell of frustration, the man pushed himself back up once again, making sure to watch where he placed his feet. He grabbed at the back of his neck, snatching a strand of his shoulder-length hair and pulled it out in front of his face to examine it. The man frowned. His previously perfect hair was now flecked with white snowflakes, as were his hat and coat.

"Agh, I HATE SNOW!" the man yelled before frantically brushing his clothing and hair off, tugging the hat back over his head, shoving his hands back in his pockets, and trudging off once again. Within seconds, the snow had stopped falling. "Now that's more like it…" A plane flew overhead, gradually descending over the frigid city of Sapporo.

* * *

Shaun stepped out of his plane, his feet sinking into the snow as he did so. Then he snapped his fingers, and the flying vehicle glowed purple briefly before vanishing. He was wearing a purple cloak about his body, as well as a plain pair of glasses, which he presently adjusted with a single finger, brushing a bit of his black hair as he did so. A lone passer-by, carrying a bottle of beer, gaped at the teen. Shaun turned to him and said, "What?" The drunk blinked a few times as Shaun walked away, then turned his head to look at the bottle in his hand before pouring its contents out onto the cold street.

As Shaun walked he removed an object from the inside of his cloak and held it before him. It was a golden trinket, crafted into the image of a leaping gazelle. It dangled from a brown string, which Shaun looped over his fingers. The trinket was glowing brightly, and as Shaun continued to walk, the glow intensified. "Well, this is easier than Nick made it out to be," he muttered to himself, "I just have to keep walking in this direction, and I'll find whoever it is I need to find. Sure, I haven't got all day to do it, but how hard can it be to find one guy and bring him back?

* * *

The black-coated man removed his right hand from his pocket just long enough to shake the arm a bit, trying to relieve himself of the burning pain he felt on the limb. _'I wish Todaku didn't have such a sick sense of humor,'_ he thought to himself, _'there's got to be some other way to find this guy…'_ He pressed on, gritting his teeth to take his mind off the pain a bit. _'No matter, it'll all pay off when I get my reward.'_ The pain in his arm increased, and the man imagined he heard his skin sizzling, _'I don't know what's worse-my arm burning up or the rest of my body freezing…Well, at least I'm getting close, and I won't have to feel it anymore…This thing's really hurting now, I must be really close…'_ He turned a corner, and ran headlong into a tall man. This caused him to stumble backwards, slipping on the ice once again and falling to the snowy ground. The man he had collided with managed to keep his footing, being much more used to the slippery sidewalks than the other.

The coated man screamed in frustration as he leapt up out of the snow and jabbed a finger angrily at the one he had bumped into, yelling obscenities. A few passersby turned their heads at the noise he was causing, but the target of his insults appeared not to be affected. He was wearing a black hoody, with his hands in its pockets and the hood. The visor of a black baseball cap stuck out of the top of the hood's opening. He stared evenly back at the one who had bumped into him. After a few seconds, the coated man realized that his arm hurt like hell, and realized what that meant. "You! You're the one I've been searching for! Prepare to die, you pathetic worm, for you shall be crushed beneath the might of the great Ieyasu!"

The man in the hoody removed a hand from its pocket and pulled back his hood, revealing himself to possess jet black hair that was gelled back beneath his cap, grayish-green eyes…and a pair of headphones currently fitted over his cap, covering his ears and blasting loud music. He pulled the other hand out of its pocket, revealing a CD-player, and pressed the Pause button. He removed the now-silent headphones from his ears and said, "Sorry, were you saying something to me?"

Ieyasu yelled in rage, "Insolent punk! I'll kill you!" He pulled back the right sleeve of his coat, revealing a black symbol somewhat resembling a crown in the middle of his forearm. The symbol glowed, and then black tendrils of shadow spewed forth from it, then circled around Ieyasu and the other man.

The other man's eyes widened in shock at this turn of events. "What's going on?" he demanded sharply. Ieyasu just grinned sadistically, and the shadows continued to come forth from his arm.

Shaun turned the corner of a building, outstretched arm holding up the now flare-like gazelle icon. He caught a glimpse of Ieyasu and his target, shadows now almost completely engulfing them, and broke into a run towards the two. "Damn, should've anticipated this…I didn't reach him fast enough…" Before the hemisphere of darkness could close over the pair within, Shaun thrust out his free arm, using his own power to force the orb to remain open long enough for him to dive headfirst into it before it closed completely and everything around him went black.

Ieyasu blinked as he saw the black-haired teen suddenly leap into the darkness he had created, but seemed unperturbed. He glanced at the glowing golden gazelle in Shaun's hand. "So you came to recruit him," he observed, "no matter, because I have already started this duel by invoking the dark power of my master. It's mostly for show, but it also prevents this little whelp from escaping from our little game. There's nothing that can be done to stop it now."

Shaun grimaced and clenched his fists, but did nothing more. There was nothing else he could do. Now that Ieyasu was no longer distracted by his own fury, he had the opportunity to get a closer look at his opponent. He looked like he was no older than eighteen at the most, yet he was more than six feet tall, and his build suggested that beneath his winter clothing he had relatively well-toned muscles. "What's your name, boy?"

His opponent glared at him, and replied simply with, "Dion Rinfar."

"Dion Rinfar…I like the last name…" Ieyasu smiled, "too bad you're soon to be the late Dion Rinfar." He crossed his arms in front of him so that they intersected perpendicularly at the forearms. The black symbol on his right arm glowed momentarily, and a black aura covered the opposite forearm. The glow bulged out a bit from his arm, and took form. Eventually it lost all of its nebulousness and became a black Duel Disk, the monster zones shaped into a semicircle. From this arc extended a sharp metal blade that gleamed in the source-less light of their surroundings. "I assume you know how to duel, so let's get started." He snapped six cards off of his already-shuffled deck, which was held down by a claw-like clamp in the center of his Duel Disk. "I set two cards facedown and summon Zolga (1700/1200)!" Two brown-backed, giant cards materialized before him, followed immediately by a vaguely humanoid figure with a head consisting of a half-disc on the top and a cylindrical base. A single red eye gazed at Dion, and below the eye was a purple sheet draped over the rest of the strange monster's body, or perhaps lack of one. "I'll leave it to you now. End turn."

Ieyasu had initiated the duel and taken his turn so quickly that Dion had not even registered the fact that he himself did not have a Duel Disk. He glanced around in a seemingly pathetic excuse to locate one, but was lucky to glimpse Shaun retrieve one from his cloak. Shaun, now completely resigned to the fact that he would just have to watch the duel instead of help in any matter, chucked the Duel Disk at Dion. Dion slid the Disk onto his arm, and it clamped into place. He retrieved his deck from its place at his belt, shuffled it quickly, and slammed it home into its respective slot on Shaun's Duel Disk. "Alright, I don't know what exactly it is you want from me, but you picked the wrong person to battle in this manner. I'll have you know I've defeated two of Japan's former top duelists." Ieyasu let out a fake yawn, so Dion decided to spare with further comments. Instead he snapped six cards off of his deck, as Ieyasu had done just earlier, and looked over them. "Now to show you how skilled I am. I'm going to beat you right here, in my first turn."

Ieyasu sneered back at him, "Those are some pretty bold words, punk. I doubt you can back them up. After all, you'd need to destroy my Zolga and then still have the capability to deal me 4000 damage."

"Actually…" Dion slid two cards into Shaun's Duel Disk, and two green-bordered cards shimmered into view in front of him, "I don't plan on even having to touch your monster. I play the permanent Spell cards, Dark Snake Syndrome and Wave-Motion Cannon." Ieyasu felt something brushing against his leg as both Spells took effect, and hefted up his pant leg to reveal a large, brown, snake-like tattoo curled around his lower leg. Ieyasu looked up, and noticed by Dion's downwards glance that a similar tattoo was around the teen's own leg. "I've never felt this happen before…but anyways, during my next Standby Phase, Dark Snake Syndrome will deal us 200 points of damage. Then, during my following Standby Phases, that damage will repeat, but doubled each time we receive it successively. As for my Wave-Motion Cannon…" here the other Spell tilted backwards, so that it became parallel with the ground. Then a bulbous, green cannon appeared mounted upon the card, aimed at Ieyasu. "During each of my Standby Phases, it gains a counter, and at any time I can send it to the graveyard to deal you 1000 damage for each counter on it."

Ieyasu seemed unworried, and made it obvious, "I'll have killed you long before that many turns can pass."

"Will you?" Dion replied with a smirk, "Time goes by faster than you think. In fact, I think the right number of turns will pass right about…" he placed another card into the Duel Disk, "now. I activate Time Jump, accelerating time by three turns! That means that three of my Standby Phases have passed, so each of my Spells activates three times!" Both cards shimmered, three beads of energy appearing on the Wave-Motion Cannon, and Dark Snake Syndrome dealing its damage. Ieyasu grimaced in pain as he felt the magical tattoo crawl up his body, tearing out nearly half of his Life Points. Dion reacted with much more volume, letting out a scream of agony as he felt the tattoo rip through his soul. (Ieyasu LP: 2600, Dion LP: 2600).

Dion fell to his knees, arms wrapped around his body in reaction to the stinging sensation in his back and legs. "What…" he struggled to speak, "what…was that?"

Ieyasu smirked, "Idiot. As I said, the dark powers my master has granted me prevent you from leaving. However, they also upgrade the realism of our Duel. This is no longer a light show generated by our Duel Disks; this is real. Sure, I still don't have the power to summon an outright Darkness Game, so I can't give you a Punishment Game when I win. However, I'll be sure to take care of that by the time this duel is over."

Dion regained his feet, having mostly recovered from the shock he had unknowingly inflicted upon himself, "What are you talking about?"

"I don't really feel like explaining everything to you, whelp," Ieyasu spat, "but to keep things simple, my master wants you dead, and he's given me the power to make that happen through this duel. You're fighting for your life, every blow you take will be real, and in the end you'll lose your soul as payment for your defeat."

"Every blow's real, huh?" Dion muttered to himself, "That's a shame, because this thing'll probably kill you." He cast an arm towards his now-glowing Cannon, "I send Wave-Motion Cannon to the graveyard, dealing you 3000 damage and finishing you off!" The Wave-Motion Cannon surged with power, and hummed loudly as it prepared to release the energy it had collected in a single, powerful burst.

Ieyasu casually motioned to one of his facedown cards, which flipped up to reveal an image of a bearded man in royal garb casting his arm out to something not portrayed in the image. "I activate Imperial Order, a permanent Trap that will negate the effects of all Spells, as long as I pay 700 Life Points during each of my Standby Phases." Dion's Wave-Motion Cannon suddenly became a cold gray, and stopped humming, frozen in place. Both duelists could feel the snake tattoo that had been previously writhing on their backs also freeze in place. "The fun doesn't end there, however," stated Ieyasu, "now that I've successfully negated the effect of a card, I can sacrifice one monster on my field to summon this monster…" his Zolga vanished in a pillar of light, and in its place stood a large monster with a cape draped about its broad shoulders, with tremendous arms that ended in sharp claws. Its color shifted between a prism of yellow, red, and green as it stood glaring at Dion intently. "Behold, my King of Negation (2400/1500)! When summoned, his effect immediately destroys all cards on your field of the type I negated in order to summon him!" The King's color stopped shifting as Ieyasu spoke, settling on red, and the large figure planted both its large arms in the ground, sending out red lances of energy which struck Dion's frozen Spells, destroying them both. "In addition, King of Negation's summon is treated as a Sacrifice Summon, so because I sacrificed Zolga, I gain 2000 Life Points (Ieyasu LP: 4600)." A yellow glow surrounded Ieyasu's body momentarily, restoring him to full strength. "And, lastly, King of Negation will constantly negate all cards of the type I negated to summon him, meaning until he leaves the field, all Spells you play will be negated!"

Dion grimaced, seeing that he had just wasted three cards in his hand for nothing. His bold claims had fallen apart, and his seemingly winning move had only resulted in giving Ieyasu and advantage. _'Nothing I can do about it now, though…'_ He inserted two more cards into his Duel Disk, "I set one card facedown, and summon Solar Flare Dragon (1500/1000)." A facedown card materialized before him, then further up an orange- and black-scaled, serpentine dragon with a mane of yellow flame extending from the back of its head curled on the ground, hissing at Ieyasu past the black-haired man's King of Negation. "Solar Flare Dragon deals my opponent 500 damage at the end of each of my turns, so I'll just end my turn here." The Solar Flare Dragon immediately spat out a burst of flame the size of a soccer ball, hitting Ieyasu square in his coated chest and setting them aflame (Ieyasu LP: 4100).

Ieyasu quickly patted out the fire, cursing slightly from the singe. "Good grief, first it's freezing cold, now I'm burning up. I'll be happy once I finish my business here and go home." He snapped the top card off of his deck, then motioned to his face-up Imperial Order. "Since there's no point of keeping it active while King of Negation is in play, I send my Imperial Order to the graveyard instead of paying the 700 Life Point upkeep." The card faded away, and Ieyasu placed it into his graveyard, then selected a card from his hand and placed it next to his King of Negation. Immediately a slim figure in blue plate mail armor appeared, holding a shield of blue and gold metal depicting a lighting bolt in its left hand and a golden-bladed longsword that crackled with electricity in its right. "Meet Blitz the Lightning Prince (1700/1200)," introduced Ieyasu as the monster appeared, "and now I think our two monsters should get to know each other. Blitz, attack his Solar Flare Dragon!" The armored warrior took a step forward and raised his blade, but was immediately stopped in his tracks by some unseen force that pressed him to the ground, leaving him struggling just to get into a kneeling position. Surprised, Ieyasu glanced at his King of Negation, finding the ruler to be in a similar position. He shot a look at Dion, and sure enough found that the tall teenager had activated his sole facedown card.

"My Gravity Bind prevents all monsters on the field of level four and higher from attacking," Dion explained briskly. His Solar Flare Dragon seemed to be under the effects of Gravity Bind as well, meaning it too was a level four monster.

Ieyasu nodded, though he grimaced with frustration. "Very well then, I can't finish you off quite yet, so I'll just set a single card facedown before ending my turn."

Dion snapped a card off the top of his deck, then emptied his hand of the only two cards he held. "I set down one card, and then summon a second Solar Flare Dragon." A second serpentine dragon appeared next to the first, and the pair roared at Ieyasu together. "Solar Flare Dragons cannot be attacked if there is another Fire monster on my field, meaning that neither can be attacked while on the field together. So with no other moves to make, I end my turn." Both Dragons immediately let fly twin bursts of flame, which Ieyasu ducked to avoid so as not to get burnt (Ieyasu LP: 3100).

Ieyasu drew, and then plucked the Lightning Prince off his Duel Disk and slid it into his graveyard. "I sacrifice Blitz the Lightning Prince to summon Mobius the Ice Monarch (2400/1500)!" A white, semi-humanoid creature with a bulbous body appeared in Blitz's place, its large arms holding up its bulk from the ground. Ieyasu smirked, "Because I sacrificed Blitz to Normal Summon a monster, his effect activates, destroying one monster on the field. Furthermore, when I successfully Sacrifice Summon Mobius the Ice Monarch, I can destroy two Spell and Trap cards on the field. In other words, I'm going to clear your field of everything except one of your pathetic little Dragons!"

Dion's eyes widened as a bolt of lightning shot from the graveyard slot of Ieyasu's Duel Disk and struck one of his two Dragons, causing it to simply explode upon contact. Then Mobius held out its two arms and shot out rays of frost towards his Gravity Bind and facedown card. Dion moved quickly to activate the facedown card, and was relieved when it managed to flip up before Mobius's blasts struck it and Gravity Bind, freezing the cards over with ice and causing them to shatter. "I managed to activate my Bottomless Trap Hole before Mobius could destroy it," declared Dion as he pointed at the large monster boldly, "so now it's immediately removed from the game!" A pit opened in the ground beneath Mobius's feet, and the monarch fell into it with a guttural scream.

Ieyasu growled, frustrated that he would be unable to get the finishing blow off in this turn. Nonetheless, he jabbed a finger at Dion's one remaining Solar Flare Dragon and commanded, "King of Negation, attack!" The large King, freed from the constriction of Gravity Bind, complied immediately, leaping forward and rending the small Dragon to shreds with a single swipe of its long, sharp claws (Dion LP: 1700). "End turn."

Dion drew his card with a shaking hand, and grimaced when all he saw was a weak monster. "I set a monster in defense mode. End turn."

Ieyasu smirked, happy to see his opponent backed into a corner. He drew, and frowned slightly when he saw nothing useful at the moment, then swept his arm forward with the declaration, "King of Negation will destroy your defender!" The clawed monster swiped down through Dion's card. The card vanished and was replaced by a large, purple sphere, from which extended small black spikes. The King did not hesitate to slash at the newly revealed monster, causing it to burst. Unexpectedly, several of the spikes on the sphere's surface embedded themselves in Ieyasu's flesh, causing him to grimace in pain (Ieyasu: 2600).

"My Giant Germ (1000/100) deals you 500 damage whenever it's destroyed in Battle," Dion explained, as some of the Germ's remnants moved about on the floor before settling in two separate piles, then took shape in the form of two new Giant Germs. "It then lets me summon copies of itself from my deck in attack mode."

Ieyasu scowled, but with nothing else to do simply ended his turn. Dion gladly drew, knowing he was safe for at least one more turn. "Alright, I set one card facedown, then just switch my Germs to defense mode and end my turn there." His Germs seemed not to change as he shifted their position, but it was difficult to tell considering they were single-celled creatures.

Ieyasu angrily drew, and wordlessly set a card facedown, then pointed a finger at one of Dion's Giant Germs. The King of Negation slashed through it, sending spikes hurtling towards Ieyasu. This time the coated man simply stepped to the side, easily avoiding any physical injury (Ieyasu LP: 2100). Then he returned to his ordinary stance and crossed his arms over his chest, indicating the end of his turn.

Dion responded by drawing a card, but with nothing else to do simply nodded to Ieyasu, who drew in turn. Ieyasu grinned at the card he had drawn, but first selected another card in his hand, which he slid into his Duel Disk. "I play Quest of the King. This permanent Spell will add one Level 5 or higher monster from my deck to my hand each time I successfully Normal Summon a monster." He continued by depressing a button on his Duel Disk, causing one of his three facedown cards to flip up. "I also activate Ascend to the Crown, which will allow me to perform one additional Normal Summon each turn, provided that I sacrifice a monster when I use this extra summon."

Dion took in the two cards for a moment, then his eyes widened as he came to a realization. Ieyasu smirked as he caught the reaction, "That's right. Because I run a Monarch Deck, I'm now guaranteed the ability to activate any two of the summon effects the quartet possesses every one of my turns. And because you're so low on resources, I can eliminate your field easily and take you down as soon as this turn. So now, I summon Blaze the Infernal Prince (1700/1200) to the field!" His newest monster was a man in red samurai armor, with a helmet that was capped by red flame and a sword that was surrounded by a flame of identical color. "And now Quest of the King adds a Level 5 or higher monster from my deck to my hand. Next, I'll use Ascend to the Crown's effect to immediately summon the monster I searched for, Granmargu the Rock Monarch (2400/1500)!" The Infernal Prince vanished in a pillar of flames, which then dissipated to allow a behemoth encased in stone armor to emerge from the Earth. Ieyasu thrust a finger at Dion and grinned, "Blaze discards one card at random from your hand when sacrificed to summon a monster, and Granmargu destroys one facedown card when he's Sacrifice Summoned. Since you've only got one of each, the targets are obvious." His final words were emphasized by a lance of fire erupting from his graveyard slot and burning away the last card in Dion's hand and by Granmargu slamming one of his pillar-like arms into the ground, causing the ground beneath Dion's facedown card to crack upwards, piercing through it. However, as this occurred, four spherical goats of multiple colors appeared on Dion's field, flanking his Giant Germ. "What the hell?"

Dion smiled in relief, glad to see that his card had worked, "My Scapegoats summons four Goat Tokens. I guess your King of Negation couldn't negate it because its Spell Speed doesn't match that of a Quick-Play."

Ieyasu grimaced, realizing that Dion was right. _'Lucky punk. He must have just tried to activate it as an act of desperation. There's no way he could have known that King of Negation's Spell Speed is only as fast as the Spell Speed of the card that I use to negate a card when I summon him. No matter, I'll just have to rampage over those stupid furballs…'_ "Quest of the King adds another monster to my hand. Now, King of Negation, Granmargu, attack! Crush those weaklings!" Both of his monarchs lumbered forwards, Granmargu's steps generating a minor earthquake that obliterated one of Dion's Scapegoats and King of Negation ripping apart the final remaining Giant Germ, causing Ieyasu to take a minor amount of damage (Ieyasu LP: 1600). His turn ended, Ieyasu nodded at Dion with a huff.

"I draw," declared Dion as he did so. He grinned slightly at the sight of the card he had drawn, and immediately played it. To Ieyasu's surprise, both of his monsters suddenly dissolved, replaced by a large pool of molten magma. Simultaneously, a dome-shaped, iron cage appeared around Ieyasu, hindering his movements. Ieyasu reacted by using the sharp edge of his Duel Disk as a blade, attempting to hack his way out of the cage, though to little avail.

"What's going on?" Ieyasu demanded sharply, causing Dion to smirk and point at the pile of magma, which was beginning to move. It stretched upwards, taking the form of a vaguely humanoid and very much large lump of lava. It settled at about thirty feet in height and twenty feet in diameter. After taking form, it shambled behind Ieyasu, leaving a trail of super-hot lava in its wake.

"This is my Lava Golem (3000/2500)," Dion stated, "he's one of the cornerstones of my Burn strategy. When I play him, I have to sacrifice two of your monsters, and then summon him to your field. However, I do get something in exchange for giving you such a powerful monster."

"And that would be…?" Ieyasu prompted impatiently.

Dion smirked, and folded his arms over his chest, "Why don't you see for yourself right now? End turn."

Ieyasu snarled, and snapped a card off the top of his deck. Immediately, he felt an immense heat descend upon him. "What the…" he looked up in time to see a drop of lava fall from an appendage the Lava Golem had extended over the cage. Ieyasu let out a yell of panic and dived forward, forgetting that he was constricted by the iron cage. His face smashed into the bars of the cage, dazing him momentarily just before the magma descended onto his back. The onslaught of pain caused him to yell out in pain, which made Dion wince as he imagined what his opponent must have been going through. As soon as the lava stopped falling, Ieyasu pushed off the wall of his cage and rushed to remove the burning remains of his coat from his body. His back was no doubt burnt, but the thick furs had probably shielded him from greater damage.

"Lava Golem deals its controller 1000 damage during each of their Standby Phases," Dion granted an explanation to the assault Ieyasu had received (Ieyasu LP: 600).

Ieyasu responded by throwing Dion a glare capable of blowing apart a planet. He adjusted the green, collared shirt he had worn underneath his jacket. Then he threw off his hat, freeing his long black hair, a few strands of which were plastered to his head with sweat. "Clever move," he said, with forced composure, "you gave me a strong monster with a heavy drawback in exchange for two of my own. Not only that, but you removed King of Negation from the field, enabling you to freely play Spells. I must admit, you've certainly turned the tide of this duel."

Behind Dion, Shaun watched silently. His features betrayed no emotion, but inwardly he felt very worried for the slightly older teen before him. _'He's gained the upper hand for now, and if he can keep Lava Golem and Ieyasu's field for one more turn, he'll win the duel. Unfortunately, that's not going to happen, and if my guess is right, he'll be pressed back against the wall again…'_

"You're foolish if you think this Lava Golem will finish me off!" exclaimed Ieyasu as he looked at the card he had drawn, then selected another card from his hand and placed it on his Duel Disk, "Or have you forgotten that Quest of the King added a monster to my hand on my last turn?" The Lava Golem immediately sank into the ground, and vanished. The cage imprisoning Ieyasu shattered, and a bolt of lightning struck the ground in front of him. As the flash of light dissipated, a large figure in dark, spined armor appeared, electricity crackling along its arms. Dion grimaced as he witnessed the monster appear, knowing only his three weak Scapegoats stood between him and defeat. "This is Zaborg the Thunder Monarch (2400/1500), who destroys a monster when he is Sacrifice Summoned," Ieyasu proclaimed, as Zaborg gathered an orb of electricity in its large hands, then through it at Dion's field. The ball struck one of the Scapegoats, tearing it apart instantaneously. "Next, I play Emperor's Rage, which will re-activate the effect of a Monarch on my field!" Zaborg launched another blast as Ieyasu played the card, leaving Dion with just one remaining token. Ieyasu immediately declared an attack, and Zaborg obliterated the final remaining object on Dion's field.

Ieyasu smirked, knowing that Dion had both a bare field and hand, and would be forced to top deck next turn. "The monster I have searched for with Quest of the King will now replenish my Life Points," he declared, not missing a beat as Zaborg disappeared, replaced by a metallic figure immersed in a large purple cape. "This is Zolgora (2400/1500), who when Sacrifice Summoned increases my Life Points by 2000 (Ieyasu LP: 2600), meaning I'm safe in case you draw a lucky burn card." He added another monster from his deck to his hand with the effect of Quest of the King. He made no further move, indicating his turn was complete.

Dion took a deep breath and glanced down at his deck, knowing that he had to draw a good card to remain in the Duel. _'He probably added a Monarch to his hand that would be capable of destroying any defensive cards I might play, most likely Granmargu with its ability to destroy both facedown monsters and Spells and Traps. But that doesn't mean I can keep myself safe with a face-up card, because his combo of Quest of the King and Ascend to the Crown would allow him to search for either Zaborg or Mobius, depending on the card I play. That means I've got to draw a card that will let me take the battle to him…unfortunately most of my deck involves direct damage and stall. I do keep some battle-focused cards in my deck, but not enough for me to open up on him with no preparation…'_ He placed his fingers on the top of his deck, and hoped for a miracle. He knew it was possible, but…

He flipped the card off his deck, and dared to glimpse at its face. As he turned it over and saw its image, a breath he had been unwittingly holding escaped from his lips. "Phew…I play the Spell card Burning Greed! This card allows me to remove up to five Fire monsters in my graveyard from play, and then draw one card from my deck for each one I remove! So I remove all three of my monsters from the game, and draw three cards!" Ieyasu scowled as he helplessly watched his opponent plucked both his Solar Flare Dragons and his sole Lava Golem from his graveyard and place them in his back pocket, then snap a fresh three cards off the top of his deck before looking them over. After completing this short action, Dion grinned, knowing he'd easily be able to remain in the duel for one more turn, as well as deal some damage to Ieyasu. "I play the Spell card Wildfire! This baby will destroy all monsters on the field, and then deal each of us 200 damage times the combined level of all monsters it destroys!" A twister of flame appeared in the center of the field, and it bathed Zolgora in its torrent of fire, burning the caped figure to ashes. Then the twister exploded in all directions, causing both duelists to duck or risk being severely burnt (Ieyasu LP: 1400, Dion LP: 500).

Dion stood up and brushed his clothes off, smirking confidently in spite of the harsh damage he had received to this point in the duel. He was smirking because in this moment, he had no doubts in his capability to win. "I summon the Balrog (1000/1000) to my field!" he shouted with determination. At his words, a human-sized demon with horns that swept from the back of its head forward to in front of its mouth appeared in front of him. Its skin was a crimson shade, and wings of flame were mounted on its back. "For every Fire monster on the field, my Balrog gains 500 Attack and Defense," Dion informed, "since he's a Fire type, that means he has 1500 Attack and Defense, just enough to finish you off! Balrog, attack directly and finish the duel!" The demon formed a sword of flame in its claws and charged towards Ieyasu immediately, intent on burning its target to ashes. But before the Balrog could reach its target, one of its strides unexpectedly launched it ten feet into the air, where it hung, unable to move.

Ieyasu grinned, motioning to the Trap he had just activated, "This Trap is called Gravity Release, the counterpart to your Gravity Bind. Rather than preventing monsters of level 4 and higher from attacking, this one targets monsters of level 4 and below. Luckily for me, this Trap only affects my opponent's monsters, so I won't be hindered by it in any way.

"Damn it…" Dion muttered, no so much because he had nearly won the duel in one fell swoop, but because the only monster in his deck above level 4 was the Lava Golem, a monster he didn't normally use to attack except under extreme circumstances. Gravity Release would no doubt prove to be a great problem. "I play Swords of Revealing Light," he stated after a few moments, emptying his hand and causing two-dozen blades of pure light to appear around Ieyasu's field. "As you should know, this will prevent you from attacking for the next three turns."

"Feh, whatever," Ieyasu said dismissively as he drew a card to start his turn, "I end my turn without playing anything."

Dion drew quickly, and hid a small grin as he glanced at his new card, "I set one card facedown, and end my turn."

Ieyasu drew, and with a look of disgust said sharply, "Pass."

Dion drew, and for once was able to end his turn without an empty hand. He nodded to Ieyasu, passing control of the duel to him.

Ieyasu drew, and with a smirk placed a monster on his Duel Disk, "I summon Hiel the Frost Prince (1700/1200)!" A man in slender, pale blue armor appeared in front of him. He carried a silver-bladed rapier, and his chest plate was decorated with a silver crest resembling a snowflake. "Quest of the King adds a monster to my hand! And then I summon that monster using Ascend to the Crown by sacrificing Hiel!" Hiel became immersed in a blue light momentarily, but the light suddenly snapped off as Dion's facedown card flipped up. "What?"

Dion had a triumphant glow in his gray-green eyes as a large purple mask materialized on his field. "This is my Mask of Restrict, a card I usually use in conjunction with Lava Golem to prevent it from leaving the field," he explained, "its effect prevents monsters from being sacrificed from the field, for any purpose at all. Considering your deck runs on Sacrifice Summons…I'd say that kind of hurts you."

Ieyasu snarled angrily, but unable to do anything about this development simply ended his turn. Dion gladly drew a card, confident that soon he would completely shut his opponent down. Unfortunately, his Swords of Revealing Light faded, having completed their three turns. However, the card he had drawn would serve as a replacement in keeping Ieyasu from attacking. "I summon my third and final Solar Flare Dragon (1500/1000)!" he called as the final serpentine dragon of flame appeared on his field, curling itself up next to the Balrog. "With another Fire monster on my field, Balrog gains more strength (Balrog: 2000/2000), setting it above Hiel. While he can't attack, this now keeps you from attacking, because Hiel can't beat Balrog, and Solar Flare Dragon can't be attacked because Balrog has to be attacked first. So, confident that you can't touch me, I end my turn." His dragon spat out a ball of fire, catching Ieyasu in his right arm (Ieyasu LP: 900). The dark-haired man angrily slammed his other hand down upon the arm, patting out the flames. The fire had burned away part of the sleeve of his shirt, revealing the black symbol on his forearm once again.

Ieyasu glared past Dion's monsters at the duelist himself, anger blazing in his eyes. The flames of the two monsters reflected in his eyes, seeming to emphasize his already very apparent fury. He wordlessly placed his hand on his deck…and suddenly his posture changed entirely. Instead of anger, his old arrogance seemed to be back. _'Uh oh,'_ thought Shaun, his eyes widening as he suddenly felt the surge of power that surged through Ieyasu's body, _'he's just drawn something very powerful. I've never felt anything like it before…but it's weird. The amount of power he's using isn't very powerful. Heck, I could probably roast him right now if this spell wasn't in place. But it's as if his power is something from the surface of a much deeper source. I can feel it backed up behind him, something giving him this power. And whatever the source is, it hasn't even given him a single ice cube from the iceberg... What the hell is it that you're going up against, Nick?_

Ieyasu flipped the card off his deck, not even bothering to look at it. He knew what it was, he knew that sensation of barely stemmed power. He pressed a button on his Duel Disk, and slot for a card slid from the blade-like platform. "Prepare yourself, mortal!" he warned, and placed the drawn card into the slot, which slid back into his Duel Disk, "For I play the card that seals both my victory, and your fate! The Field card, Seal of Orichalcos!" Green light suddenly erupted from his Duel Disk, expanding into a ring that surrounded both duelists. Strange symbols circled around the ring, forming either words or phrases that none of the three present could make heads or tails of. From the ring, a wall of green light extended upwards, and Dion got the sense that it was shutting himself in and everything outside out. From six evenly spaced points on the circle, green lines extended, forming a hexagram between them. Finally, the same symbol appeared on Ieyasu's and Hiel's foreheads, and their eyes glowed red with dark power.

Ieyasu let out a sinister laugh as he felt the powers of the Orichalcos swimming through his body. "Yes…this power…the same power that I will learn to master so that I may conquer this world…the power that I will now use to destroy you!"

Dion could finally take it no longer. In the past ten to twenty minutes he had experienced some things that had been previously foreign to him, and at last he was going to voice his frustration. "What the fuck are you rambling about?"

Ieyasu chuckled darkly, and looked directly into Dion's eyes with his own dark red ones. "The Seal of Orichalcos represents a power of enormous proportions. You need not be concerned with most of its strength, as you'll be dead long before you'll need to worry about it. As for its effects in this game, it will prevent anything from getting in or out of area marked by the Seal, or rather it would if the darkness wasn't doing that anyways. Also, it allows me to play Monsters in my Spell and Trap zones and also affects my monsters by making them all Dark types and boosting their attacks by 500 (Hiel: 2200/1200)." Dion's eyes widened, because now Hiel had the attack strength to defeat his Balrog. And he didn't have very many Life Points to spare as it was. "And finally, the most important effect! The loser of this duel will lose their soul! So get ready, boy, because here I come! Hiel, destroy Balrog!" The monster rushed forwards and slashed through the demon's midsection, cutting it open and leaving it dead within moments (Dion LP: 300). "Go ahead and take your turn, so I can cut down your monsters and reap your blood."

Dion complied with Ieyasu's command, though not because the two desired the same result. Recognizing the grinning green pot that was familiar to all duelists, he played his drawn card immediately. "Pot of Greed lets me draw two cards," he explained, an unnecessary statement because Ieyasu obviously knew the card's effect. The cards that Dion drew from his card's effect were more important, however. "I play Rise From the Ashes, which lets me summon a Fire monster from my graveyard. Of course, I'll summon my Balrog (2000/2000) back to the field, in defense mode." In a sudden burst of flame, the demon reappeared next to his dragon, and draped its flaming wings about its body protectively. "I'll also switch Solar Flare Dragon, as well as play Healing Warmth." A soothing heat traveled through his body, and he immediately felt greatly restored (Dion LP: 2400). "This card increases my Life Points by 300 times the combined level of all Fire monsters on my field." With nothing else to do, he ended his turn, and his Solar Flare Dragon let loose a ball of flame that Ieyasu surprisingly caught in his palm (Ieyasu: 400).

"Your pathetic monster is not enough to harm me anymore," he remarked, "not now that I possess the power of the Orichalcos."

"It doesn't look that way to me," Dion replied, "you're nearly out of Life Points, so it doesn't matter if you take any physical damage or not."

"Yes, I suppose that would be the case…" began Ieyasu as he flipped up his drawn card, "I set one card facedown and play Reload, so I shuffle these four remaining cards in my hand back into my deck, and draw four new cards." A brief shuffle and re-draw later, Ieyasu found himself looking at a completely new hand. He selected two cards from his hand and played them, one after the other. "I activate Emergency Provisions, followed by Substitute. Emergency Provisions lets me sacrifice Spell and Traps to gain 1000 Life Points each, so I sacrifice all four on my field. Of course, Substitute then activates, and as its name implies, it will fulfill the cost instead of my four cards." Dion clenched his hand tightly, seeing his opponent's Life Points skyrocket from the simple combo (Ieyasu LP: 4400). It seemed that whenever he managed to get Ieyasu down to a low level of Life Points, the man just climbed back up past his starting point. There had to be a way to finish him off in one fell swoop…

Dion was forced to snap his attention back to the present, as Hiel had just cut through his Balrog once again and it was now his turn. He drew a new card, giving him two total. He smirked at the sight of the drawn card, and took no hesitation in playing it, "Card of Sanctity lets us both draw until we hold six cards, so I draw five cards and you get four. Of course, I get to use mine right now, whereas you have to wait until your turn rolls around." With gusto, he snapped five cards from his deck in a single motion, and gave them a once over before making his declaration, "I play Heavy Storm, so say good bye to all your preparations!" A tornado swept up in the middle of the field, ripping Dion's Mask of Restrict and Ieyasu's Quest of the King, Ascend to the Crown, Gravity Release, and facedown cards. Dion expected the Seal of Orichalcos to be destroyed as well, but the tornado dissipated without so much as scratching the Field card.

Noticing Dion's confused expression, Ieyasu explained, "Idiot, a power as great as the Seal of Orichalcos cannot be destroyed by something as pathetic as a little breeze. By the way, one of the cards you destroyed is called Foolish Aggravation, which when destroyed deals you 700 damage (Dion LP: 1700)!"

Dion narrowed his eyes and frowned slightly, but then his expression curved upwards, as he selected another card from his hand. "How about this then? I play Molten Destruction! And since it's a Field card, it'll destroy your Seal!" A crevasse began to open in the Earth, and lava oozed from it. However, the Seal of Orichalcos glowed slightly, and a burst of green energy from it suddenly closed the fissure, destroying Dion's card.

"The Seal of Orichalcos is indestructible, ignorant fool!" yelled Ieyasu with a smirk, "so go ahead and waste your cards in a pathetic attempt to destroy it, you won't do a thing!"

Dion glared at Ieyasu. He felt like punching the man in the face for his arrogant behavior, but knew it would do little good. Instead he continued to play out his turn, selecting another card from his hand and activating it, "Flame Aetonics destroys all non-Fire monsters on the field, so Hiel is destroyed and you're left with nothing!" A burst of flame suddenly erupted from his Solar Flare Dragon, burning Hiel away in an instant. "I set two cards facedown and switch Solar Flare Dragon to attack mode. Attack him directly!" The Dragon let loose two bursts of flame, one for its attack and one for its effect to end Dion's turn. Ieyasu batted aside both blasts, but it was evident from his Life Point counter that they had done their job (Ieyasu LP: 2400).

Ieyasu drew a seventh card, and immediately selected one of the four he had drawn from Dion's Card of Sanctity. "Don't look so triumphant just because you destroyed my field. Empire's Stability allows me to return my field to the state it was at the beginning of the last turn if during that turn it was completely cleared." Just like that, Dion's work was erased, as all five of Ieyasu's Spells and Traps sprang back into play, with Hiel standing in front of them all, rapier raised. And suddenly Dion realized that Mask of Restrict was no longer active… "I sacrifice Hiel to summon Zaborg the Thunder Monarch (2400/1500)!" Ieyasu shouted, as Hiel vanished, replaced by the electricity-manipulating Monarch. "Hiel's effect is counterpart to Mobius's- he destroys two Spell or Trap cards when he's sacrificed to summon a monster. With Zaborg's effect destroying a monster, that means your field is gone and you're open for an attack!" Two blasts of cold shot from his Duel Disk, and Zaborg let loose a blast of lightning simultaneously at the Solar Flare Dragon.

Dion reacted quickly, activating both of his set cards, "Your monster's effects don't matter, because I was going to use this combo anyways! Continuous Flame prevents any Fire monsters from being destroyed this turn, and Repelling Flame switches the position of one of my Fire monsters in order to deal you 200 damage for each of the combined levels of all monsters on my field!" An aura of yellow flame sprang up around the Solar Flare Dragon, shielding it from Zaborg's electric blast. Then the Dragon curled itself up on the ground, sending up a swarm of embers that brushed Ieyasu's leg, dealing him a little bit of damage (Ieyasu LP: 2000).

Ieyasu seemed only very slightly disheartened at this turn of events. "So I can't finish you this turn. My next turn's just as good, or ever the one after that if I have to. I add another Monarch to my hand using Quest of the King's effect. And now…" he grinned, and the Field card slot of his Duel Disk extended once again. He placed a card there, on top of the Seal of Orichalcos. "The Seal prevents you from playing Field cards, but that doesn't mean I have to suffer the same penalty. I combine the Seal of Orichalcos with the Mighty Empire, creating the Mighty Dark Empire-Orichalcos!" A large, majestic castle appeared behind Ieyasu, light shimmering off its white walls momentarily before the darkness of the Seal turned it pure black. Dion found himself taking a few steps back as even he found himself able to sense the immense power that Ieyasu was tapping into.

"Mighty Dark Empire-Orichalcos leaves you with absolutely no chance of escaping this duel alive," Ieyasu assured, his eyes now filled with a crazed look. "Its effects conjunction with my Monarchs will have you on your knees in no time flat. For one thing, it increases the attack and defense of all Monarchs on the field by 800 (Zaborg: 3200/1500). Not only that, but whenever I summon a Monarch, it is considered to be a Sacrifice Summon, so I'll get to activate its effect. And lastly…" Here he paused to insert a single card from his hand into his Duel Disk, "I can discard one card from my hand to decrease the level of a Monarch in my hand to four! The card I discarded was Repayment of Losses, so now I get to draw a card. More importantly, I now summon Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch (2400 + 800/1500)!" Beside Zaborg, a pillar of flame burst upwards from the ground, and when it faded it revealed a figure similar in size to Zaborg, wearing armor similar to that of a samurai's. "Thestalos's effect now activates, discarding a random card from your hand. If that card is a monster, you take 100 damage for each of its levels!" Thestalos cast his arm forwards, firing a burst of flame that burned away the final remaining card in Dion's hand. Indeed it had been a monster, one that Dion hadn't wanted to summon because it would have been open to an attack (Dion LP: 1400). "Now that that's out of the way," Ieyasu continued, pressing a button on his Duel Disk, "I activate my facedown permanent Spell, Feudal System. Once per turn, I can use its effect to draw one card for every Monarch on my field. So I'll do so now, drawing two." This activation immediately increased his hand size to a full six cards. "Ah, perfect. To complete my dominating kingdom, I play Expanding Shadows."

"What?" Dion said in surprise and protest, "That's impossible. You said the Seal of Orichalcos allows you to use your Spell and Trap zones for monsters, not the other way around. How can you play a Spell when all those zones are full?"

"Idiot, think about it!" Ieyasu shot back, "Expanding Shadows is named such for a reason, and that's because I can use it to double the number of usable Spell and Trap zones on my field. Not only that, but it can be played on top of another of my cards, so that takes care of itself." Sure enough, a representation of Expanding Shadows appeared over his Quest of the King card. "And now, as I said, to complete my Empire. I play Divine Right, another permanent Spell that will increase my Life Points by 700 during each of my Standby Phases for each Monarch on my field. So very soon, I'll leave you in the dust in terms of Life Points!" Ieyasu gave little indication of the end of his turn, instead choosing to drop back his head and laugh evilly.

Dion narrowed his eyes in determination, and snapped a card off his deck. "No…no you won't!" he shot back forcefully, "I'll beat you yet, just watch me! I play Spark Flash, a card similar to Scapegoats." The card that he played flashed on the field momentarily. It was a Normal Spell, with no special symbol in its upper right corner. Four balls of flame leapt from it, landing in each of his empty monster zones surrounding his Solar Flare Dragon. "Spark Flash generates four Spark Tokens (0/0), and since they're all Fire types my Solar Flare Dragon cannot be attacked until you destroy each of them, meaning I'll get to keep its burn effect going. I'm not out of this duel yet, not as long as there's breath in my lungs and blood in my veins!" His Solar Flare Dragon emphasized the final word by letting out a volley of fire, though Ieyasu ignored it as it struck him right in the face (Ieyasu LP: 1500).

"You say those last two details as if they'll be a problem," Ieyasu remarked, casually drawing a card from his deck, "Divine Right now increases my Life Points by 1400 (Ieyasu LP: 2900), so there goes your pathetic attempt to drag me down. And now to completely assure my victory. I discard a card to lower the level of a Monarch in my hand to 4, then summon it, search for another, and repeat the process." The movement came with practiced ease: discard, summon, search, discard, summon, search, and all with the confidence that Ieyasu couldn't stop it, as he obviously could not with no set or hand cards. "Granmargu the Rock Monarch (2400 + 800/1500), Mobius the Ice Monarch (2400 + 800/1500), join your fellow kings!" Ten-foot-tall monoliths of rock and ice emerged from the ground at either side of Zaborg and Thestalos, and then burst apart to reveal their respective contained monsters. Now Ieyasu had all four Monarchs at his disposal, and all at a boosted 3200 attack strength. "And now I activate Feudal System, drawing four cards!" Dion stared in horror as he helplessly watched his opponent boost his hand to seven cards strong, unable to hinder the man in any way at all. "Ha! I'll destroy your Solar Flare Dragon this turn anyways! I play Emperor's Rage, activating Zaborg's effect!" Zaborg hurled a basketball-sized ball of electricity at the dragon, killing the serpentine Fire monster immediately. All that remained were four small balls of flame on Dion's field, compared to Ieyasu's four mighty kings, Mighty Dark Empire, and seven more Spells and Traps.

Ieyasu's face now consisted entirely of a twisted grin as he cast out his burnt arm and shouted loudly, an emperor over emperors, commanding them forth to do his bidding, "Monarchs, destroy his Spark Tokens! Raging Storm of Kings!" The four Monarchs moved in unison, sending forth bursts of lightning, fire, rock, and ice, electrocuting, burning, crushing and freezing the four weak tokens that held up in a pathetic defense of Dion's Life Points. Pathetic, but effective, as all four fell, but Dion remained temporarily safe.

Dion looked extremely intimidated by now, but he had enough confidence to state the effects of his Spark Tokens, "Whenever one of my Spark Tokens is destroyed, you lose 200 Life Points, and then I gain 200. That's 800 total in both fields (Ieyasu LP: 2100, Dion LP: 2200)." Eight small bursts of flame shot out, four red ones licking at Ieyasu's limbs, and four blue ones swirling around Dion's body, restoring some of his strength.

"A nice light show, but little else," said Ieyasu with a smirk, "now draw your card, I haven't got all day. And don't even think you'll be able to destroy my army of rulers with some mass-destruction card, because Mighty Dark Kingdom-Orichalcos prevents shit like that."

Dion collapsed to his knees at the words, his last hopes slipping away from him. He had been hoping to draw exactly such a card, before Ieyasu had made his comment. With his opponent gaining Life Points so quickly, there was no burn card that could possibly bring deal him enough damage before he struck Dion down. He was out of cards with draw power, so using multiple cards was out of the question. Ieyasu had the ability to summon another monster capable of destroying any card he set, and even if he drew a card that was chainable, that would only delay his opponent for one more turn. _'There's…nothing I can do…nothing…'_ His torso dipped forwards, and his hands fell to the ground to hold up his body.

"See?" remarked Ieyasu, "I told you I'd have you on your knees. But please, don't give in now, you'd waste me going to all the effort to beat you so utterly. Come now, get up and draw. It won't do you any good, but it will hardly take any effort on your part and it will make me feel so much better."

"Listen to him," Shaun spoke up unexpectedly. Dion looked over his shoulder at the younger teen, his gray-green eyes dark with a look of defeat. "Get up, Dion. Don't allow him to do this to you. If you're a true duelist you won't give in by bowing down to him. He's got the upper hand right now, and he's got a powerful set of cards at his disposal, but that doesn't mean he's a better duelist than you. Look at yourself, you've been top-decking your way through nearly the whole duel, and doing extremely well. It's a surprise you didn't lose thirty minutes ago. You've gotten this far, so don't give up now. Things may look dark now, but I can tell by the way you've acted so far that you can win."

Dion stared at Shaun a little while, then began to mutter himself, "Yeah, I guess it is impressive that I made it this far…But that just means that I'm out of good top decks. I just don't think there's anything else left in my deck…"

Shaun let out a grunt of frustration and yelled, "Damn it, will you quit acting so fucking depressed?" He threw the gazelle icon in Dion's direction, forgetting that the Seal of Orichalcos prevented anything from traveling into or out of the Dueling field. Surprisingly…it didn't. The icon soared through the Seal, unimpeded, and struck Dion's back. He, Shaun, and Ieyasu all looked on in surprise, as the icon glowed almost pure white, and flashed, blinding everyone present…

* * *

Dion opened his eyes to the sight of a pure, empty void. Shaun, Ieyasu, and the dueling field were all gone. He stood up, and looked around. Nothing. "I must be losing it from the stress I'm under…" he muttered to himself. A logical argument. Eventually he would come to learn that logic could not be relied upon when it came to the events surrounding him.

He turned around, and jumped in surprise as he eyes came upon a muscular chest two inches from his nose. He scrambled backwards several feet, enough to see that the being in front of him was human…except for the gazelle head perched between its shoulders. The gazelle-headed humanoid took a few steps towards him, and he responded by scrambling backwards until he tripped on his own legs in an attempt to get away. The gazelle-headed humanoid caught up with him in a few calm strides, and reached out towards his head. Unable to act out of panic, Dion didn't move as the creature simply extended a finger and touched his forehead. And then there was another flash…

* * *

The dueling field was back. Ieyasu, Shaun, the green light of the Seal of Orichalcos, everything. Dion stood up, and looked at Ieyasu with a now confident stature. "My turn," he said, his voice perfectly calm, and he drew. He glanced at the card and smiled slightly, before placing it in his Duel Disk, "end turn."

Ieyasu smirked, "Glad you're giving me the chance to kill you. I draw." A card came off his deck, and his Life Points increased by 2800 from Divine Right (Ieyasu LP: 4900). "I repeat the process of discarding to lower my Monarch's level, summoning, searching, discarding, and summoning once again!" Another Zaborg appeared, its attack points boosted to 3200. "And now for the kill! The final Ice Monarch comes forth and destroys your facedown card!" A sixth Monarch appeared, and the newly arrived Mobius launched a single stream of cold energy at Dion's facedown card. Shaun's eyes widened as he looked on. Time moved slowly as the white lance approached…and its target flipped up just before it was frozen solid, shattering into a million pieces.

"My card was Hand of Fate," Dion stated, picking the card out of his Duel Disk and showing it to Ieyasu, "it can only be activated during my opponent's turn, and upon activation destroys all cards on my field and in my hand."

"How useless and pathetic," Ieyasu said dismissively, "such a card is useless to anyone, even the most amateur of duelists."

"I wasn't done," Dion cut off with a frown, "Hand of Fate now selects three cards from my graveyard-one Monster, one Spell, one Trap. Of those three, I have to call a type and choose a card. If I call that card's type correctly, I can immediately activate it, or summon it in the case of a monster. Then your turn immediately ends. However, if I choose wrong I take 1000 damage."

Ieyasu barked with laughter, "That will do you no good. There's a two-thirds chance that you'll fail and my Monarchs will kill you. And even if you do get a free summon or activation, nothing in your graveyard can do you any good."

"You're wrong, Ieyasu," Dion disagreed, as three cards floated from his graveyard slot and hovered facedown in front of him. "There's one card in my graveyard that can help me. Just one. So the card I select will be that card, and that card will let me win this duel."

"Ha! Your promises are most amusing, but in the end they're just wasting my time," Ieyasu interjected, "now pick your card so you can be wrong and I can finish you off!"

"Very well," said Dion, "I'll pick my card. As for your prediction…" He pointed to the card on his right, Ieyasu's left. "I won't be wrong! The card I pick will be the card I need to win! And this is that very card, and that card is a Spell…" The card he pointed to tilted backwards, revealing itself to Ieyasu, whose eyes widened with realization, "the Spell named Card of Sanctity!" The card glowed as he called its name, for he had indeed been correct in his call. He snapped six cards from the top of his deck, giving himself a fresh hand. Ieyasu drew one card, but was forced to end his turn immediately, so Dion drew a seventh card. "It's time to finish this!"

"Bold words, little whelp," sneered Ieyasu, "but just because you've got a few new cards doesn't mean you can come close to touching me. I have control over fourteen cards on the field, there's nothing you can do!"

"I wouldn't care if you had an unlimited number of cards and Life Points, I'd still defeat you!" Dion yelled, slapping a card in his hand onto his field, "I summon Super Hot-Blooded Batter (500/1000)!" A young boy, no more than three feet tall and wearing a white and red baseball uniform, appeared in front of him, a red batting helmet drooping over his brow and a large wooden bat clenched firmly in his gloved hands.

"A pathetic excuse for a monster!" Ieyasu exclaimed, eager to criticize each and every one of Dion's moves.

"We'll see what you think after this!" Ieyasu challenged, playing another card, "Fire Tempest destroys all Spells and Traps on the field, then deals each player 200 damage for every one of their cards that was destroyed!" Ieyasu's eyes widened as all seven of his Spells and Traps, not including the Mighty Dark Empire-Orichalcos, was lit aflame and a wash of heat descended upon his body (Ieyasu LP: 3500).

"Don't forget my facedown card, bastard!" Ieyasu reminded, "Empire's Stability returned it after you destroyed my field several turns ago, so now take 700 more damage from Foolish Aggravation (Dion LP: 1500)!"

"That little amount's not going to matter," Dion declared, "I play another Rise From the Ashes, summoning back my Balrog from the graveyard (2500/2500). Not only does he receive a power bonus from both Thestalos and my Batter, but for every Fire monster on my field other than himself, my Batter gains 1000 Attack and Defense (1500/2000)!" The Balrog reappeared next to the short hitter, and both monsters increased each other's power.

"Not enough!" yelled Ieyasu "Barely enough even to overcome any one of my Monarchs if they pooled their attacks together!"

Dion snapped, finally hurling back an insult at his sharp-tongued opponent, "Just shut the fuck up while I beat you, you fucking pissant! I play Bonds of Brothers, which will summon the other two Balrogs from my deck to the field at a cost of 1000 Life Points (Dion LP: 500)!" Flanking the Balrog suddenly appeared two more of its kind, and all three greeted each other by flaring their burning wings and letting out roars of challenge in Ieyasu's direction. "Now that the number of Fire monsters on my field has increased, the power of all of my monsters increases (Balrogs: 3500/3500 x3, Super Hot-Blooded Batter: 3500/4000)!"

Ieyasu's eyes widened, as all four of Dion's monsters suddenly had the strength to defeat any of his six Monarchs. "No! You still don't have enough strength to beat me! Not yet!"

"Balrog, destroy Zaborg!" Dion shouted, and the center demon complied, flapping towards the Thunder Monarch and forming a sword of flames in its claws, which it used to slash down on the ruler, burning him away (Ieyasu LP: 3200). "And now the second effect of Balrog activates! When it destroys a monster in Battle, I can summon that monster to my field as a Fire monster with no effect! So arise, Zaborg!" The Balrog formed a whip from pure fire, and cracked it against the ground. Immediately Zaborg rose up from the ground, glowing with a red aura. "And because there's now another Fire monster on my field…" Dion didn't need to finish his sentence, the ticking of his monsters' attack strengths was enough to explain (Balrogs: 4000/4000 x3, Super Hot-Blooded Batter: 4500/5000). "Balrogs, Batter, attack his Monarchs now!" The two remaining Balrogs flew forth, drawing their swords of flame. One cut through Granmargu (Ieyasu LP: 2400), the second cut through Mobius (Ieyasu LP: 1600). And finally, the small batter rushed towards Thestalos, and raised his bat. There was a blood-curdling yell as he crushed the bat over the Fire Monarch's head, breaking the club in half from the force of the blow (Ieyasu LP: 300).

Ieyasu suddenly blinked, and smiled. "Fool. You just fell short of your little declaration. Even if you attack with Zaborg, the best you can do is eliminate one of my monsters, you can't deal damage. And what's more, because you destroyed Thestalos with that last attack, your monsters have lost Attack Points (Balrogs: 3500/3500 x3)."

Dion smiled, "You seem to think my letting monsters attack freely was a mistake. Well, here's a little notice-it didn't matter what monsters they destroyed, because I'm going to finish you off right here and now. If Thestalos had been the first monster destroyed, I would've dealt you 500 less damage, and I could've still beaten you. It just works out that none of my monsters have to be sacrificed for this moved."

Ieyasu blinked again, and stared at him, confused, "Sacrificed? But you already summoned this turn."

Dion smiled, and closed his eyes, "I'm not sacrificing to summon anything. But I guess you're so used to doing so that that possibility never occurred to you." He pointed towards Zaborg. "I sacrifice Zaborg to Super Hot-Blooded Batter's effect! By sacrificing a Fire monster other than him, I can have my Batter deal you 500 points of direct damage!" His eyes snapped open, as Zaborg became a large ball of flame that hovered over to where the Batter stood, his bat held at the ready. "So take this!"

"No!" Ieyasu backed away in fear, but was stopped by the wall of the Seal of Orichalcos and was forced to look on as the Super Hot-Blooded Batter brought back his bat…

"Go!" shouted Dion, "Super Home Run Fireball!" The Batter swung, the fireball was sent careening towards Ieyasu, and his entire body was consumed by flames (Ieyasu LP: 0).

Ieyasu fell, lit aflame, to the ground, and the field faded. And the Seal closed about him, glowing brightly as it forcefully removed his soul from his body. Dion took this opportunity to smile with triumph, then fall face-first to the ground. The shadows about them dissipated, leaving a burning corpse, an unconscious figure, and a calm-looking young teenager in strange purple hair lying/standing in the snow. Shaun looked around at the crowd that had gathered around the strange sight of the orb of darkness, and wisely chose to grab Dion's unconscious form and haul ass. Two minutes and three point eight seconds later, Shaun's plane was taking off, headed back to Domino City.

* * *

Author's Notes: Over twelve thousand words this chapter. Personal best.

_Nick sends Bakura to North America to recover the next destined protector. The ancient thief has little difficulty in finding the recruit, but before he can return with them, the two encounter Todaku's next follower. The resulting duel leaves the recruit struggling against a strange and uncommon strategy. Will they be able to overcome this strategy in conjunction with the power of Orichalcos?_

_Next Time: The Deadly Desert Sands_


	4. The Deadly Desert Sands

For disclaimer, see the beginning of this story. Bastard.

Last chapter I had Dion and Ieyasu use a multitude of original cards, not all of which were created by me. I forgot to say so last time. Also, Dion Rinfar was not created by me, but by Vaurnut. Before continuing with the story, I would like to state my policy on others using my own creations: don't, unless I specifically grant you permission. If you do this, you commit plagiarism.

Which is bad.

Not just because it's against the law, but also because I will kill you if I find out you did it. Slowly. Painfully. Grotesquely. Graphically. Etc. Anyways, from now on I'm going to be posting the original cards used in each chapter at the end, so you can know exactly what to ask for and who to ask. Original characters are easier to notice, they're the ones you can't recognize. Here's the list for last chapter:

Cards by Me: King of Negation, Blitz the Lightning Prince, Quest of the King, Ascend to the Crown, Blaze the Infernal Prince, Emperor's Rage, Zolgora, Burning Greed, Wildfire, Gravity Release, Hiel the Frost Prince, Rise From the Ashes, Healing Warmth, Foolish Aggravation, Empire's Stability, Continuous Flame, Repelling Flame, Mighty Empire, Mighty Dark Empire-Orichalcos, Feudal System, Divine Right, Spark Flash, Hand of Fate, Fire Tempest

Cards by Seeker of the Soul: Substitute, Repayment of Losses, Expanding Shadows

With that said, let's move on to the next chapter. This chapter is dedicated to Seeker of the Soul, who turned nineteen today. …Well, technically today. It's still May 18 on the west coast, right? In any case, he turned nineteen less than twenty-four hours ago, so it still counts. Happy b-day, man.

**Beneath the Surface**  
**by G.O.T. Nick**

**Chapter Three: The Deadly Desert Sands**

Bakura, the oldest thief in the world by several millennia, scowled with hatred as he looked at Nick, a person whose age was only a fraction of a percentage of his own. And yet Bakura, with the ancient powers of the Millennium Ring, was being bent to his will.

The man in question saw things in a slightly different air. He knew Bakura was only allowing this to happen because it would serve his long-term interests. In truth, Nick thought that he was probably not as strong magically as Bakura. He simply knew a few simple but very useful spells taught to him by Isis Ishtar, which would not be extremely useful in direct combat with the thief. He was slightly worried that the ambitious spirit would eventually attempt to use the global threat to his advantage, but that would have to be dealt with when the time came.

In the meantime, Bakura was obeying him, and so Nick had to finish preparing a device so the thief could accomplish the task set before him. He focused his gaze on the two objects in front of him: one a small golden object resembling a pair of wings, the other a golden, glowing trinket in the form of a long-beaked, long-necked bird. Nick believed it was an ibis, as he had seen them before. The two objects were surrounded by glowing auras-the wings in purple, the ibis in yellow. A strand of energy that shifted constantly in color connected the two. "When I'm finished with this," he said to Bakura, "you won't have to concentrate on your destination when you activate the teleportation wings. They'll simply be guided by the icon."

"And how do you plan on me getting back?" Bakura asked promptly.

"You know where we are, right?" Nick said, his concentration beginning to break away from the conversation as he focused more on the spell. The wings' aura was beginning to shift in color. "Just focus on this location when you activate the other device." He reached into his pocket and drew out another set of wings, which he tossed casually towards Bakura. "Now be quiet, will you? I'm almost done with this…there we go." The wings were now glowing with a golden aura, identical to that of the ibis. "Now you just have to activate it, and it will take you to wherever the icon directs it."

"Fine," Bakura grunted, "just give me the damn thing so I can get this over with." Nick nodded and handed him both objects. Bakura peered at the wings a bit, then said, "How do I get this thing to wo-" before vanishing in a flash of light.

"That's how," Nick stated. Then he turned to Yami, who to this point had been silent. "Alright, Pharaoh, are you ready to begin?" Yami stood up from his seat and nodded. Nick stood up as well, "Hopefully, the magical abilities of the Millennium Puzzle will speed up this process. We're short on time as it is…"

* * *

It is commonly believed that the shortest path between two points is a straight line. This is mostly true. However, the _fastest_ path between two points is not a straight line, but rather the path of least resistance. Unfortunately, the path of least resistance for pieces of matter as large as human beings is limited. After all, there are only so many spaces through which a being two meters tall, thirty centimeters wide, and ten centimeters thick can fit into. Of course, the human body is constructed of various, tiny objects called cells, which can fit into much, much smaller spaces. And these cells can be split into atoms, which can fit into even tinier areas.

This is the basis of the concept of teleportation. The fastest speed an object can travel is about three hundred million meters per second, or the speed of light. However, if the human body were to be accelerated to this speed, it would be torn apart from the stress. In order to get around this, a teleporter's body is broken down into atoms, and these atoms are sped up at the speed of light, taking the path of least resistance, to the desired destination, where the body is then reassembled. Naturally, for a person experiencing this for the first time, the event can be rather traumatizing. Not to mention nauseating.

* * *

After taking a few minutes to barf up his breakfast, Bakura wiped away the bile about his lips, and looked around at his surroundings. His eye twitched, "What the…?" Granted, for everywhere in the northern hemisphere, it was winter. However, this place that he had arrived in felt and looked especially wintry. There was snow _everywhere_-falling from the sky, in drifts along both sides of the sidewalk that Bakura stood on, all across the street, on the tops of cars, and everywhere else. Though the snow was still building up, it was doing so at a sluggish pace now. Obviously it had been much more dense earlier. The sun was setting in the distance, which made since because Bakura had traveled about a third of the way around the world to reach his destination. To his right Bakura saw a frozen lake, upon which ten children were enjoying a game of ice hockey. He turned to look to his left, and on the other side of the street saw a man with a red uniform an broad-rimmed hat, mounted upon a brown horse, marching along the road. Just then, two men in heavy coats passed by Bakura on either side, speaking in a dialect of English he had never heard before. He was able to make out most of what they were saying, though.

"Did ya see the game last night, eh?"

"Oh yeah, the Oilers're lookin' good, eh."

"Yeah, but they won't get the Stanley Cup, eh. Gotta make it through them Red Wings."

"Red Wings?" Bakura muttered to himself, in Japanese. Then, "Oilers?" A pause. "Wait…kids playing hockey, red-suited guy on a horse…Stanley Cup…" His eye twitched an he yelled to the sky, "I'M IN STEREOTYPICAL CANADA!"

* * *

Meanwhile, another man trudged along the sidewalk of stereotypical Canada. He wore a black robe that covered his entire form, and shivered uncontrollably as he did so. The garment was meant for extremely warm weather, not the opposite… But as the pain in his arm increased, he knew that soon his discomfort would be over… Being careful not to slip, he trudged on.

* * *

"Hey, you okay?" this sentence towards Bakura came, surprisingly enough, in Japanese. Bakura turned towards the questioner and studied his appearance. He wore a thick green jacket with the zipper undone, so that the Canucks jersey he was wearing underneath it was visible. He also wore jeans, and a Duel Disk was strapped to his wrist, deck in place. He had short brown hair above a set of gray eyes. He quirked his head at the staring Bakura, and as a result of the motion the thief was able to catch sight of a small bump on his right ear. About his neck, a silver pendant of a dragon clutching a pearl was strung. The brown-haired guy looked to be in his mid-teens. "What's that thing you're holding?" he asked, nodding down towards Bakura's left hand.

Bakura looked down at the hand in question, which was clutching the ibis icon. The golden bird was glowing blindingly. Bakura looked back up at the boy, and held the icon up to him. The ibis glowed even more brightly, and when the boy reached out and touched, pulsed momentarily before growing dim. "Who are you?" Bakura asked after a moment.

He blinked a minute for his eyes to recover before answering, "Roland Thomson, you?"

"Call me Bakura," the thief replied. "Where do you live?"

Roland narrowed his eyes at Bakura, "What's it to you."

"There is a matter of great importance that involves you," Bakura replied, standing up, "I would suggest you getting ready to depart. I'll explain on the way."

* * *

"Now that we have covered the basics," said Nick to Yami, "I want you to try to teleport in front of this bucket." He placed the metal container on the floor in front of him, about twenty feet away from Yami.

"Why in front of the bucket?" Yami inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"You'll see in a minute," Nick answered patiently. Then he stepped back a good ten feet. It would not be pleasant to be so close to the bucket if Yami had a particularly weak stomach…

* * *

"So, let me see if I understand everything," Roland said to Bakura as they entered the Canadian teen's home. "The world's gonna be taken over by a horde of demons in about twelve hours, unless I come with you and duel some random guy who's destined to unlock the gate? And the reason you know I'm the right guy is because I've got this?" He motioned to the ibis icon, which he had tied about his neck, dangling next to his dragon pendant.

"Well, you're not the only one," Bakura stated, "but yes." Roland turned to look at Bakura, and frowned. Bakura got the feeling that his story didn't sound very believable.

Suddenly Roland's lips spread out in a grin. "Sure, I'll come with you!" he exclaimed suddenly. "Just let me changed and leave a note for my parents. Good thing they aren't home, or they might try to stop me. We're going to Egypt, right? So I shouldn't dress so warm…" He walked off, leaving Bakura staring in his wake. The millennia-old rogue simply couldn't understand how in the world this kid had suddenly taken this announcement as truth, let alone so casually. Oh well, that just made things a little bit easier…

Bakura suddenly sensed a presence behind him, and spun around, holding his Millennium Ring at the ready. The knob on the front door turned, and was pushed forward. A large figure in a black desert robe peered through the doorway, and Bakura let fly with a burst of energy that struck the wooden door. The door immediately fell apart with a creak and a spray of splinters, knocking the figure backwards. Bakura stepped through the doorway into the cold night, standing menacingly with his Ring clutched in his right hand.

The black-robed figure stumbled to his feet, and chuckled gruffly, "Hoho, a challenge for me, eh? Well, I suppose it's a good opportunity for me to test out these powers Todaku gave me…" He reached into his robes, and removed a small urn from it. He removed its cap, and held it forward. Bakura quirked an eyebrow, but after a moment, a burst of sand shot from the container towards him. Instinctively Bakura raised the Millennium Ring, willing a burst of energy to come forth and intercept the sand. The powder fell to the ground, and Bakura grinned in triumph. "Ah, a stubborn one. Excellent, I shall test my power against yours!" the figure shouted, and raised his hand. The scorched sand rose up, and surged towards Bakura again. Bakura grimaced, and snatched a card from his deck before holding it up.

"I summon you," Bakura shouted, the card and his Ring glowing the same shade of dark purple, "Dark Necrofear!" The blue-skinned female demon appeared before him, taking up a threatening stance and hissing, the light of nearby street lamps glistening on her red armor. He struck out with a clawed hand, striking the oncoming sand and dispersing it. But before Bakura could enjoy this triumph, the sand shot around the Necrofear's hand and forced itself into her nostrils and mouth, cutting off her oxygen.

"You cannot defeat me!" the black-cloaked man bellowed with a laugh. He cast out an arm, and the remaining sand that was currently not choking Bakura's Dark Necrofear flew toward the thief himself. Bakura's eyes widened, but otherwise he had no time to react, the speed of the sand and his shock from the speed of the cloaked man's assault. The sand sped towards his face, and had almost reached his nostrils and gaping mouth when a flash of steel swept across his vision, intercepting the sand and knocking it away.

Bakura blinked, and glanced to his right, where Roland was standing, a gold-hilted broadsword with a three-foot long blade clutched in his right hand. Roland cast his gray eyes on the cloaked form, and maneuvered his sword around to grip it with his left hand as well, then took a stance, the tip of his blade pointed towards the figure. He was no longer wearing his heavy jacket and jersey, but rather a long white t-shirt with a green over shirt over it. His blue jeans had been replaced by a white pair, and a sheath for his sword was buckled to his waist. He spoke carefully, restraining his anger, to the figure, "Get away from my house, bastard, or I'll leave you in as many pieces as the bits of sand you just used."

Bakura quirked an eyebrow, and muttered to Roland while jerking his head towards the sword, "Do you really know how to use that thing?"

"Sure," Roland murmured back, "pointy end goes through the other guy." Bakura's eyes widened before Roland clarified, "Actually, I've been practicing fencing since I was a kid. I moved up to this baby a couple years ago." Bakura breathed a small sigh of relief.

The figured laughed, and made a "come" gesture with his right hand, the sand flying back towards him and depositing itself in its urn. After the sand had been ripped from its throat, the choking Dark Necrofear vanished in a puff of black smoke. "So," the figure spoke, "you are the one I seek." Then shadows billowed out from his form, encompassing all three of them in darkness. "Come face me in a duel, boy!" He pulled a tan Duel Disk from his robes, and put it on.

Roland grinned, and turned to look at Bakura, "Looks like I get a taste of action already." He sheathed his sword, and held out the arm that bore his Duel Disk, which whirred and clicked as it activated (Roland LP: 4000). He slid five cards off the top of his deck, and declared, "I'm Roland Thomson, and I'm gonna kick your ass! Now show your face and face me like a man!"

The figure chuckled, and reached up to his face before removing his facial garb. This revealed a dark-skinned, pudgy face. He had a black mustache and goatee, not to mention an extremely visible nose. "I'll be the one winning here, punk."

Roland blinked at the sight of his opponent's face, and bit back a laugh, "Please don't tell me your name's 'Snotty'…"

A vein on the man's forehead bulged, and he shot an intense glare at Roland, "You dare to mock me, the mighty Tehuti?"

Roland stared for a few seconds, then snickered, "Tehuti? 'Teh' …'hooty'?" That was the last bit he could take, he burst into laughter. "Oh man, I'm facing a guy whose name is 'the tit'…"

Tehuti snarled, and shouted at Roland angrily, "Be quiet, you insolent bastard! I'll make your death more painful for those comments!" His Duel Disk activated, and he snapped six cards from it (Tehuti LP: 4000). After a quick once-over his hand, Tehuti removed three cards from it and set them into his Duel Disk, "I set two cards and a monster facedown, then end my turn." The three cards appeared in holographic form in front of him.

Roland finally quelled his laughter, and drew a sixth card, "Okay, my turn, Titty."

Bakura sighed in exasperation behind him, and slapped his forehead with a palm. "This is one of the people who's supposed to save the world?" he muttered to himself, "We're doomed…"

Roland grinned to himself, and slapped a card onto his Duel Disk, "I summon Marauding Captain (1200/400)!" he declared. As he did so, his monster, an armored man with short blonde hair and a pair of swords held in his hands, appeared in front of him. "His effect summons another monster from my hand of level 4 or less when he's Normal Summoned," Roland explained, and continued by slipping another Monster onto his Duel Disk, "So I summon a second Marauding Captain (1200/400)!" Just as he stated, another blonde-haired soldier with two large swords appeared next to the original. "Each Marauding Captain prevents you from attacking any Warriors on my field besides themselves. Since there are now two Marauding Captains on my field, and both are Warriors, you can't attack either!"

Tehuti frowned at the development, but wasn't too concerned. _'He thinks that such a combo is difficult for me to get rid of? How pathetic…'_

"Next," continued Roland, slipping two cards into his Duel Disk, one facedown, the other up, "I set a card facedown and play The A. Forces, which powers up all Warriors on my field by 200 Attack Points for each Warrior and Spellcaster on my field (Marauding Captain x2: 1600/400). So now, Marauding Captain attacks your facedown monster!" One of the two blonde Warriors charged towards Tehuti's field, both swords raised, and brought them down on his set monster…which moved out of the way. "Huh?" Roland exclaimed in surprise.

"My set card, A Feint Plan," stated Tehuti, "prevents facedown Monsters from being attacked this turn. Therefore, your attack failed. So, are you done?" Roland frowned at seeing his attempt fail, and nodded. Tehuti slid a card from the top of his deck. Then he selected another card, and played it, "I activate Emerge From Beneath the Sands, which can only be activated if I have at least one facedown Monster on the field and no face-up Monsters. I may immediately Special Summon one Monster from my hand, and my choice is this!" He enthusiastically slammed another card from his hand onto his Duel Disk, and immediately a strange animal appeared. It had a hawk's head, with black feathers coming down to frame the neck, and it also had the black wings of a bird of prey, but the wings and head were attached to the body of a flesh-colored lion. "This is Hieracosphinx (2400/1200)!" declared Tehuti, "While he is on the field, you cannot attack my facedown Monsters. At the moment, however, that doesn't matter as much as its pure attack strength."

Roland grinned, and gestured at his two Marauding Captains, "Have you forgotten already? My Monsters' effects prevent you from attacking."

Tehuti's large face broke out into a wide grin, "True, but that's easily taken care of. I activate my facedown Permanent Trap, Impound, and then Flip Summon my facedown Sentry Golem (1000/1800)!" Tehuti's Monster was a large wooden door, with a stone archway. From the archway jutted two stone legs and two stone arms, one bearing a spear. "When Flip Summoned, Sentry Golem returns one card on your field to your hand, so I return a Marauding Captain to your hand and break your combo!" Roland gasped as the Golem suddenly trudged forwards and struck one of his Captains in the chest, knocking him backwards into his hand.

'Crud…' thought Roland, 'he broke it so easily…and not only that, but because there's one less Warrior on my field, my remaining Captain loses power (1400/400)…'

"When a card is added to your hand by an effect other than drawing," Tehuti continued, "Impound lets me draw a number of cards equal to the number added to your hand." He slipped a card off the top of his deck, and looked at it before he smirked, and reached for his Sentry Golem. On the field, it vanished in a vortex of sand, replaced by a facedown card. "Once per turn, I can flip my Sentry Golem facedown. Of course, this means I can re-use its effect next turn." Roland's eyes widened at that comment. He had to get rid of that thing quickly, before it did too much damage. "Next, I play Buried Beneath the Sands, which prevents you from activating facedown cards on your field for a number of turns equal to the number of facedown Monsters on my field upon activation. Since I've only got my facedown Sentry Golem, you can't use your set card this turn. However, that's all the time I need to permanently rid myself of your Marauding Captain combo. Hieracosphinx, attack!" The mystical beast flapped its large wings, and took flight before dive-bombing the weakened Marauding Captain. Although the young Warrior fought bravely, it was only a matter of moments before one of the sphinx's claws ripped through his armor and flesh. Blood slit through the air, and the Captain fell dead to the ground before fading away (Roland LP: 3000). "I set one card facedown and end my turn," Tehuti concluded.

Roland gratefully began his turn, _'Sheesh, he's way better than I thought he would be…I have to get serious or he'll take me apart…Unfortunately, I don't have all that much to work with…'_ "I summon Marauding Captain (1200/400) (1400/400) from my hand again, and then use his effect to summon Familiar Knight (1200/1400) (1600/1400) (Marauding Captain: 1600/400)." The blonde-haired captain flashed back into existence, followed by a silver-armored knight bearing a shield and a broadsword. "That's it for my turn."

Tehuti huffed in disappointment as he drew, "I really expected more of a challenge than this. I Flip Summon Sentry Golem again, and also activate my facedown Compulsory Ejection Device, so both of your Monsters return to your hand, and I draw two cards with Impound's effect." Roland grimaced, and could only watch as the Sentry Golem reappeared, and knocked back Marauding Captain with its spear again while at the same time, a spherical machine appeared beneath Familiar Knight, then launched him into the sky. Roland picked up both Monsters off his Duel Disk, and then Tehuti snatched two cards off his Duel Disk and pointed at Roland. "Hieracosphinx and Sentry Golem attack directly, and that will end the duel!" The beast took flight again, soaring this time towards Roland himself, and beneath it the Sentry Golem also trudged forward, spear held forward to strike. But before either Monster could reach the teen, a large circular pane of bluish-white glass sprang into existence in front of Roland, blocking both attacks and then surging forward, blowing both Golem and sphinx into a million pieces.

"Man, you're pretty dumb," Roland said with a relieved grin, "my Mirror Force was _there_ on your last turn, I just didn't activate it because your Buried Beneath the Sands prevented me from doing it."

Tehuti scowled, _'He predicted that I would return his Monsters so I could get the chance to win…but to distract my attention from his set card, he didn't set any new cards and only summoned Monsters…'_ He glanced over his hand, and wasted no time in placing two cards from it into his Duel Disk, "One card facedown and a Monster in defense, and then I end my turn."

Roland grinned and drew, giving him five cards total, at least two of which were Monsters. Tehuti on the other hand had two cards left in his hand. "Okay, first let's say hello to some old friends again," with that, he summoned Marauding Captain, followed by Familiar Knight, both of which went up to 1600 attack points. "Marauding Captain, attack his facedown Monster!"

"I don't think so!" Tehuti declared, his facedown card flipping up, revealing another Permanent Trap, "Ordeal of a Traveler activates!" A large stone sphinx shot up from the ground behind him, and its eyes glowed red, glaring down at the Captain. "You guess if a random card in my hand is a Monster, Spell, or Trap each time you attack. Guess right, and the attack continues. Guess wrong, and your Monster is returned to your hand."

"How cheap…" muttered Roland, but he pointed at Tehuti's left card anyway and said, "I think that's a Monster."

Tehuti frowned, and flipped the card around, revealing it to be a Criosphinx. Then the Marauding Captain continued his charge, bringing his blades down on the set Monster. However, Roland was disappointed when it was revealed to be a large, blue bird that easily grasped the Captain's swords in its talons, holding them back. "My Stealth Bird (1000/1800) has enough defense to block your Captain's attack. So, are you finished with your pathetic attempts to touch me?" (Roland LP: 2800).

Roland glared at the large man, but said nothing, instead choosing to silently slip another card from his hand into his Duel Disk and then crossing both arms across his chest, indicating the end of his turn. Tehuti drew, giving him two cards besides Criosphinx, and then declared, "I flip Stealth Bird, then play Buried Greed, which lets me draw cards equal to the number of facedown Monsters on my field, plus one. So I get two more cards." His Stealth Bird vanished, replaced by its card image instead, and then he slipped two more cards into his hand. After looking them over, he frowned, obviously still having nothing useful, and nodded to Roland for the teen to take his turn.

"I draw!" Roland shouted, determined to take advantage of Tehuti's inaction. He grinned at the card, and then slapped another onto his Duel Disk. Between the Marauding Captain and Familiar Knight, a third Warrior appeared, giving both a boost in strength (1800/400) (1800/1400). This one wore a combination of leather and green platemail armor, and held a broadsword. Beneath its green helmet, long blonde hair hung, framing a pair of piercing brown eyes. From both sides of the Warriors head extended long, pointed ears. "Meet my favorite Monster, Celtic Guardian (1400/1200) (2000/1200)!"

"The Elf Swordsman, eh?" commented Tehuti, then he chuckled, and added, "It's one of the game's oldest cards and one of its most well-known, but it's utterly useless. 1400 base attack with no effect? Pathetic."

Roland narrowed his eyes dangerously, and said back, "Say what you want, but he's got enough strength to destroy your facedown Stealth Bird, which means I'm about to kick your fat ass!"

Tehuti sneered back at Roland's insult, and replied, "Have you forgotten? Ordeal of a Traveler activates each time you attack, so against your Monsters I'll at the very least avoid some damage and cut down the number of Monsters on your field. You only know what one card in my hand is, and I have three others in addition to it."

"Well, I only need to know what one card in your hand is," Roland replied with a smirk, "for this card to work! I activate Spy Guesswork! If I can name one card in your hand, you automatically discard your hand and I draw cards equal to half the number you discarded! So I declare that one of the cards in your hand is Criosphinx!"

Tehuti gasped as an image of a man wearing a black overcoat and hat appeared, and snatched away all four cards in his hand. Then Roland drew two cards, and continued his turn. "Since your Ordeal of a Traveler can't activate if there are no cards in your hand, you're defenseless! Celtic Guardian, attack his facedown Stealth Bird!" The elf nodded in response, and charged forward with its sword raised before bringing the steel weapon down on the set monster, which flashed before revealing the large bird. The sword continued its downward path, neatly cleaving through the bird and leaving Tehuti's field clear of Monsters. "Now I attack directly! Go, Marauding Captain and Familiar Knight!" Roland's two remaining Monsters were already running before he finished his sentence, swords held ready to deliver a two-pronged assault to Tehuti. The large man quickly dug out the urn in his robes and uncapped it, forcing the sand within to emerge from it and block each of the blades mere inches from his body. However, while he was physically safe, his Life Points still took a large hit (Tehuti LP: 400). Grinning, Roland set one more card into his Duel Disk before ending his turn.

Bakura took a few moments to go back over what he had so far seen of the duel, and was not pleased with his conclusion. _'So far the kid's made some good moves with some generally sub-par cards. He's even got the glutton virtually top-decking now. But…Tehuti's strategy so far has been quite impressive. I don't think Roland will be able to keep up much longer…'_

Tehuti angrily drew a card, determined to make his opponent pay for the immense amount of damage he had just dealt. He immediately played his drawn card, and suddenly Roland's Marauding Captain vanished (Celtic Guardian: 1800/1200, Familiar Knight: 1600/1400). Before the boy could protest, Tehuti explained, "My Spell card, Bounce, immediately returns one card on the field to its owner's hand. So I used its effect on Marauding Captain. Of course, Impound now lets me draw one card," he did so, and grinned as he saw what it was. "I play Sphinx Revival, which summons one Monster with "Sphinx" in its title from my graveyard! So, return to me, Hieracosphinx (2400/1200)!" The bird-lion hybrid burst up from the ground in a surge of sand, and screeched a challenge to the sky. "Hieracosphinx, attack Celtic Guardian!" The beast swept forward, reaching towards the weaker elf with its large claws poised to strike.

"I activate my Trap!" called Roland, and as the set card flipped up, his Familiar Knight leapt in front of the Celtic Guardian, standing strong between he and the swooping sphinx. "Selfless Sacrifice negates your attack, then redirects it to one Monster on my field. If that Monster is destroyed, I take no Battle damage, but instead gain 300 Life Points for each of the destroyed Monster's levels!" The Hieracosphinx's claws dug into the Knight, ripping him limb from limb and spilling blood everywhere (Roland LP: 4000). "On top of that, Familiar Knight's effect now activates, letting each of us summon a level 4 or lower Monster from our hands. Since you don't have any cards in your hand, that'll only work for me!" He slapped a card onto his Duel Disk, and immediately a blue-skinned woman with pointed ears, long light brown hair, and wearing a green dress appeared next to the Celtic Guardian. She grasped her hands together in front of her chest, as if in prayer, and her eyes were calmly shut. "Mystical Elf (800/2000) appears in defense mode, and because she's a Spellcaster, Celtic Guardian remains at 1800 attack points."

Tehuti scowled. This was getting ridiculous! His opponent kept on summoning more and more of these weak Monsters, and he was getting frustrated. The man angrily passed the turn to Roland.

Roland smirked when he saw his draw, and wasted no time in playing out his turn. "I summon a Monster in defense mode, and set one more card facedown. That'll do it."

Bakura huffed when he realized Roland's error. _'The kid's good, but he's still making rookie mistakes. His leaving Celtic Guardian in attack mode is obviously an indication that his facedown card is a powerful Trap. With all the cards in Tehuti's deck that can return cards to players' hands, he'll waste no time in clearing that threat away.'_

Tehuti had already drawn his card, and was in the process of playing it when Bakura's thoughts ended. "Gaze of the Sphinx activates when a sphinx is on my field! I may now return up to two cards on the field to their player's hand, so I target The A. Forces and your facedown card!" The Hieracosphinx's eyes glowed red for a moment, and a burst of energy shot from them into Roland's cards, sending them flying back into his hand. Celtic Guardian's strength fell back to its original level (1400/1200), and Tehuti drew two cards from Impound's effect, but frowned when he saw nothing worth playing. "Hieracosphinx, destroy the Celtic Guardian!"

Roland bit his lip as he watched helplessly. It was almost too much to watch his favorite Monster be torn apart by the bird-lion. But he was severely shocked when a bit of blood flying from his Monster's body hit his cheek…and stuck there. "What…?" The Celtic Guardian then faded away, along with the blood, and the sphinx jumped backwards as Tehuti ended his turn. But Roland was suddenly petrified _'The images are…real?'_ Then he remembered when Tehuti had controlled his sand to block the attacks of Roland's Monsters, and understood why. _'If I get hit…I could get seriously injured, maybe even die!'_ He licked his lips, nervous but determined not to let such a thing happen, and drew. He breathed a sigh of relief, _'Okay…I can do this!'_ "I play Lightning Vortex! By discarding Marauding Captain from my hand, I can destroy all face-up Monsters on your field!" Tehuti's eyes widened as five bolts of lightning descended from the sky, striking his field in various places. One struck his Hieracosphinx, causing it to cry out before it was blown apart. Roland grinned, and shifted the position of Mystical Elf on his Duel Disk, "I switch Mystical Elf to attack mode, and have her attack you directly for the win!" The elf opened her eyes, and began murmuring something under her breath. Her hands glowed yellow as she did so.

Suddenly, the eyes of the sphinx lying behind Tehuti glowed red, and a path of red light formed between them and the eyes of Roland's Elf. "The effect of Ordeal of a Traveler now activates," Tehuti stated, somewhat nervously, before shuffling the two cards in his hand and holding one up at random, "so make your choice!"

Roland licked his lips. _'Okay, I can do this…'_ "I choose Spell!"

Tehuti grinned suddenly, and flipped the card around to reveal it to be a Guardian Sphinx. "Wrong! So now your Monster returns to your hand!" The connection between the eyes of the sphinx and those of the elf pulsed for a moment, and then the latter faded away.

Roland grimaced, and picked up his Mystical Elf. "Alright, but I still haven't made my Normal Summon this turn," he placed a Monster facedown, followed by one other card behind it, "so I summon this one in defense mode and also set a card facedown before ending my turn."

Tehuti drew twice, once according to the effect of Impound, and once for beginning his turn. "Heh. Your demise begins now! I play Silent Doom, reviving the Criosphinx (1200/2400) from my graveyard in defense mode!" The new sphinx's body was very similar to that of the Hieracosphinx, however its wings had green feathers and its fur was a darker shade of brown. Besides that, it did not simply have a head placed upon its shoulders, but rather an entirely new torso. The upper torso was blue, muscular, and humanoid, with clawed arms and, at the top, a hairless head with ram's horns curling from the forehead.

"Nice Monster," Roland commented, "but it can't attack, so who cares?"

"You will, in just a moment," Tehuti replied with a smirk, "I play another Bounce, returning your facedown card to your hand!" Roland frowned, and picked the card up wordlessly. Tehuti drew a card, and then pointed at Roland, or more specifically, the cards in his hand. "Criosphinx's effect now activates! Because a card was returned to your hand from the field, one card in your hand will be randomly discarded!"

Roland gasped, as the Criosphinx's eyes shot a red burst of energy that struck one of the cards in his hand, then pulled it from his grip and shoved it into the graveyard slot of his Duel Disk. _'Damn…there goes The A. Forces…'_

"Hieracosphinx, attack the first facedown Monster!" Once again, the beast took flight, and Roland's card flipped up to reveal a pale-skinned woman robed in black, with purple hair and a strange green eye sprouting from her forehead. The woman was summarily slaughtered, and a card ejected from Roland's Duel Disk.

"My Monster was Witch of the Black Forest (1200/1500)," the Canadian boy explained, "since she was destroyed, I added a Monster from my deck to my hand with 1500 or less defense."

Tehuti simply smirked, and drew another card, "Well, since another card was added to your hand, Impound lets me draw once again! And I set my drawn card facedown before ending my turn."

Roland drew slowly, realizing that the tables had suddenly turned on him over the last few rounds. "Okay, I better make this turn count…I set two cards facedown, followed by a Monster in defense mode."

Tehuti suddenly smirked, and motioned to his facedown card, which flipped up, "I activate another permanent Trap, Riddle of the Sphinx! When it's activated and during each of our Standby Phases, I flip a coin and you must call its result. If you guess wrong, I may choose and return one card on your field to your hand." A large, stone coin appeared, with a head on one side and nothing on the other, and flipped itself into the air.

Roland mentally cursed, and declared, "Heads!" Unfortunately, when the disc clattered loudly to the ground, there was no symbol visible on the top side. Tehuti laughed in triumph as Roland's newest set Monster returned to his hand, and he was forced to end his turn.

Tehuti drew twice, and laughed out loud once again at the cards he saw, "I'll end you here and now! But first, let's try your luck. Riddle of the Sphinx activates!"

The disc flipped into the air again, and once again Roland shouted, "Heads!" This time, he was relieved to see a face looking upwards when the disc hit the floor, meaning his field was safe from Riddle's effect.

Tehuti frowned, but just a little. Obviously, his plan hadn't depended on his Trap's effect, "I summon Royal Keeper (1600/1700) and then play Sand Storm, which flips all Monsters on the field facedown!" First to appear was the Royal Keeper, a brown zombie wearing an Egyptian headdress and bearing a rectangular sword and spear in its rotting arms. Then sand suddenly materialized in the air, and blew about rapidly. Roland was temporarily blinded, as the whirling sand was so thick that he could hardly make out anything through it. When it had cleared, both duelists' Monster zones were completely covered in five feet of sand, and no Monsters were visible. "I continue by playing Emerge From Beneath the Sands, summoning Guardian Sphinx (1200/2400) from my hand!" Tehuti's newest sphinx was almost identical to the image of his Ordeal of a Traveler, which was strange considering it was supposed to be an actual Monster. "And now for Sand Storm's second effect, which lets all Monsters affected by it be Flip Summoned afterwards!" Immediately, Tehuti's three remaining Monsters burst out of the sand again, giving him three sphinxes total plus a Zombie for further attack power. "To top that off, Royal Keeper gains 300 Attack and Defense when Flip Summoned (1900/2000)! So let's end this duel, Hieracosphinx!"

Roland bit his lip, and pressed a button on his Duel Disk. Immediately one of his set cards flipped up, revealing Waboku. "My Trap prevents you from dealing Battle Damage this turn!" Afterwards, his facedown Mystical Elf (800/2000) revealed itself, since technically Tehuti had attacked it and the attack had not been negated.

Tehuti frowned, and motioned to his Monsters. Immediately the Royal Keeper and Guardian Sphinx sunk into the sand, indicating they were facedown again, "I use my Monsters' effects to flip them facedown, meaning I can use their effects next turn. Also, in case you think about attacking them to disrupt this ability, Hieracosphinx prevents you from attacking my facedown Monsters while it's on the field. So, I end my turn."

Roland took a deep breath and drew. As the stone coin flipped into the air, he simply said, "Heads," once again. And just as before, the coin came up heads. He smirked, and played the card he had drawn, "Now, Pot of Greed lets me draw two cards!" He quickly flicked them off of his deck, and was pleased with the result. It seemed he was finally building up momentum again. "I play Mystical Space Typhoon, destroying Riddle of the Sphinx!" Tehuti snarled as the stone disc was surrounded by a cyclone, which ripped it apart. "Next I'll just set a Monster in defense and another card facedown."

Tehuti suddenly chose that moment to chuckle. Roland raised an eyebrow, confused as to what the man found so confusing. "Idiot, just because you've gotten rid of Riddle of the Sphinx doesn't mean I don't have other methods of clearing your field!" He snapped a card off the top of his deck, and pointed at the area of sand where his Guardian Sphinx was buried. "Emerge!" he shouted, and the immense statue rose from the ground, kicking up a large wave of sand that suddenly catapulted both of Roland's Monsters into the air. "When Guardian Sphinx is Flip Summoned, all of your Monsters are sent back to your hand!"

Roland smirked back at Tehuti, and suddenly his facedown card flipped up. "Yeah, I know," he shot back, "that's why I set Soldiers of the Wood. See, when you summon a Monster, I can activate this Trap to immediately summon a level 4 or lower Earth-attribute Monster from my hand." He slapped one of the two Monsters that had returned to his hand back onto his Duel Disk, "So now, say hello to Retrained Celtic Guardian (1400/1200)!" As he played the Monster, an elf identical to Celtic Guardian except for a faint red aura surrounding him appeared, crouching with his sword held upward to defend himself.

"That's easily taken care of," stated Tehuti, motioning towards his remaining Monster, "Royal Keeper (1900/2000), emerge and destroy that weakling!" The zombie reared up out of the ground and made a lumbering charge towards the elf. It jabbed with its spear, straight towards the weaker Monster's abdomen, and…The Retrained Celtic Guardian deflected the piercing weapon with his sword. "What?"

Roland smirked, "Retrained Celtic Guardian can't be destroyed by a Monster with 1900 or more Attack Points. Looks like your Royal Keeper's just a bit too strong, huh?"

Tehuti scowled, then took a few moments to think the situation over. Finally, he reached down to flip his Royal Keeper and Hieracosphinx facedown, "I flip my Monsters into defense mode, then play Poison of the Old Man to gain 1200 Life Points (Tehuti LP: 1600). End turn."

"Okay, let's go!" shouted Roland, flipping up his drawn card, "I play Life-Slashing Treasure, which lets me draw until I hold five cards right now, but in five turns I'll have to discard my hand!" He drew his new hand with gusto, but a look of concern crossed his face. _'Okay, for this to work I have to hope he gets the timing just right…But for now, I'll do what I can to hurt him. Too bad he played Poison, or I could kill him right here. Oh well…'_ "I play Heavy Storm!" An immense twister roared onto the field, blowing away the sand covering it and also decimating Tehuti's Impound and Ordeal of a Traveler. As soon as it vanished, Roland continued, "I then switch Retrained Celtic Guardian to attack mode and then play Pump Up, doubling his attack for the turn (2800/1200)! Retrained Celtic Guardian, destroy Hieracosphinx!" As the words left Roland's mouth, his elf charged, roaring an immense battle cry that stung against Tehuti's eardrums. Then he took a might leap and brought his sword down on the Hieracosphinx's neck, cleaving it off and releasing a torrent of blood across the field (Tehuti LP: 1200). Roland smiled at his small victory, and set two cards facedown, "That ends my turn (Retrained Celtic Guardian: 1400/1200)."

Tehuti's mouth twitched angrily, and he yanked a card from his deck before shouting, "I have had enough! Just die already! Emerge, Guardian Sphinx!" The Sphinx appeared once more, releasing a shockwave that surged towards Roland's Warrior…and then fizzled and vanished.

"Skill Drain removes all Monster effects while on the field at a cost of 1000 of my Life Points (Roland LP: 2000)," Roland explained, motioning to his now face-up Trap.

Tehuti quivered for a moment…and then smiled. "That means your Retrained Celtic Guardian is now vulnerable, heh…"

"Does it?" Roland questioned innocently, "Oh, then I better get rid of Skill Drain. I activate Dust Tornado, destroying my own Trap."

Tehuti quivered again, and burst in a fit of rage, "JUST DIE, YOU LITTLE FUCKING PUNK! EMERGE AND ATTACK, ROYAL KEEPER (1900/2000)!" The Zombie burst into existence once again, and then lumbered towards the Retrained Celtic Guardian and shoved its spear forward. The blade caught the elf in his shoulder, and while he managed to survive and evade any further attacks, Roland still lost Life Points (Roland LP: 1500). Then Tehuti flipped his Guardian Sphinx and Royal Keeper facedown, set another card facedown, and ended his turn. That left him with three defending Monsters and a facedown card to Roland's lone Retrained Celtic Guardian.

Roland drew, and smirked at what he saw. "I play Compensation of Debt, which lets me remove a Monster in my graveyard from play to draw three cards!" He did so, slipping his Familiar Knight into a pocket in his over shirt and slipping three new ones from his deck into his hand, giving him four total. "Alright, time to brighten up the situation. I play Swords of Revealing Light, which not only prevents you from attacking for the next three turns, but also flips up all your facedown Monsters!" Twenty blades of pure light descended from the sky, surrounding Tehuti's field and forcing his two set Monsters to flip up. And because neither were Flip Summoned, neither effect activated (Royal Keeper: 1600/1700).

"And now," continued Roland, slipping a second card into his Duel Disk, "time to go on the offensive! I equip Retrained Celtic Guardian with Elven Blade, which increases his attack by 500 (1900/1200)! Now, Retrained Celtic Guardian, get rid of that Royal Keeper for good! Blade of Elvenkind!" His elf charged, letting out another battle cry, though this one was quieter than the last, and raised his sword, which was now glowing a brilliant white.

"I won't let that happen!" shouted Tehuti, pressing a button on his Duel Disk, "Activate facedown card!" Nothing happened.

Roland simply smirked, as the Royal Keeper was ripped apart, "The Monster equipped with Elven Blade cannot have its attack chained to. Sorry to disappoint you." He made a motion to Tehuti for him to continue.

Tehuti was fit to burst now. _'How…how has he been avoiding me so narrowly and yet so easily?'_ He drew, and growled before simply motioning to his Guardian Sphinx, which flipped facedown.

"My turn!" Roland declared as he drew. A glance at his card was all he needed before he declared, "In case you haven't noticed yet, I really like swords. I equip Retrained Celtic Guardian with Sword of Dragon's Soul, powering him up by 700 more Attack points (2600/1200)!" The elf released his grip on the glowing white blade with his left hand and held it out, and immediately a gold-hilted sword with a green, pronged blade appeared in the free hand. Before Roland even needed to give the order, the Retrained Celtic Guardian was running, and as Tehuti's facedown Monster was revealed to be the Guardian Sphinx, he swung both blades in an "x" pattern, cutting the stone structure's head off and causing the rest of it to crumble into pieces. "Your turn."

Tehuti drew…and sighed with relief, "Heh, your attempts were pretty good…but now my Monsters will have enough strength to defeat you!"

Bakura's eyes widened as he sensed the power suddenly emanating from Tehuti, _'It can't be…there's no way he could have it…'_

Tehuti selected a card from his hand other than the one he had drawn, and played it, "Giant Trunade returns all Spells and Traps on the field to their owners' hands!"

Roland frowned as he picked up all three of his Spells, and his Retrained Celtic Guardian returned to normal (1400/1200). But even as three cards were blasted from his hand by Criosphinx, he thought to himself, _'It's okay though…I defeated two of his sphinxes, he's only got one more in play…'_

Tehuti smirked, and opened up the Field zone of his Duel Disk before inserting a card into it. "I play the Seal of Orichalcos!" Instantly the green ring burst from him, encircling both duelists in its ghastly light. Roland watched in awe as the six-pointed star formed beneath him, as well as on Tehuti's forehead. "This ancient force grants my Monsters dark power, making them Dark attribute Monsters and granting them 500 additional Attack points (Criosphinx: 1700/2400)!" The same symbol that was on Tehuti's forehead appeared on the sphinx's and its already red eyes blazed with an inner power. "Now, Criosphinx, attack his Retrained Celtic Guardian!" This time Roland couldn't watch. He closed his eyes, and only just resisted covering his ears to block out the sound of ripping flesh. Blood hit his shirt and would have stained it had it remained, but instead it faded with his fallen elf's corpse (Roland LP: 1200).

When Tehuti made no other declarations, Roland opened his eyes and drew. "I play The Warrior Returning Alive," he announced, "so I pick up a Warrior from my graveyard. Then I re-summon Retrained Celtic Guardian (1400/1200)." The elf appeared once again, gripping his blade with all the more determination to emerge from this battle victorious. "I then equip him with Sword of Dragon's Soul once more." The Guardian's broadsword vanished, replaced by the green blade, which increased his strength (2100/1200). "Unfortunately, Criosphinx discarded both of the other Spells I played. So all I can do is end my turn."

Tehuti frowned, disappointed that Roland had not attacked. Then again, the boy knew that Tehuti's facedown card was a Trap that could negate his attack. The large man drew, and stated, "I play Shallow Grave, letting both of us summon a Monster from our graveyards in facedown defense mode." Roland nodded, and a horizontal card appeared beside each of their Monsters, facedown. "I then switch my Criosphinx to defense mode, and end my turn."

Roland drew, and frowned. _'Nothing useful…I just have to hope this will hold him off long enough…'_ He held up his drawn card, stating, "I play Heat Wave, which will negate all Monster effects until my next Standby Phase."

Tehuti frowned at this declaration. _'That means my facedown Guardian Sphinx can't clear his field next turn…but at the same time, he's leaving his Retrained Celtic Guardian vulnerable…'_

"I then sacrifice my facedown Monster," Roland continued, as the card vanished, "to summon Masked Swordsman (2500/1400)." The new Warrior wore blue clothing over his whole body, and bore a silver-bladed sword. He also had a chest plate, gauntlets, boots, and a helmet, all purple. The helmet covered his whole head, save a small visor through which his eyes were not visible. "Lastly, I switch Retrained Guardian to defense mode, and end my turn." The elf crouched down next to the larger, more powerful Swordsman. Even though it had a decently high attack strength, Roland was apparently not too confident that his elf would be able to stand against Tehuti's Monsters next turn.

Tehuti was very pleased with his next card, and played it immediately, "Tomb Raid lets me draw two cards for every sphinx in my graveyard!" he shouted, slipping another two cards into his hand. He chuckled to himself, then played one of them, "Sphinx Revival now summons that single sphinx in my graveyard! Emerge and attack his Retrained Celtic Guardian, Hieracosphinx (2400/1200) (2900/1200)!" Roland closed his eyes again, unable to watch. It was painful for him to constantly send out the Warrior to die…but he had little choice. Blood splattered all over him, then faded away. He felt the elf's pain…he heard its cries…he wanted to stop them… "Take your turn so I can end this, you little annoyance!"

Roland opened his eyes, and glared at Tehuti with all of his hatred. "You think you will win?" he asked, his voice sharp as the swords his cards bore.

Tehuti chuckled. "It's not a matter of thinking, it's a matter of knowing. Don't you remember?" he inquired, "This will be your fifth turn after playing Life-Slashing Treasure! You'll discard your hand, then lose!"

Roland wordlessly drew a card, and a small guillotine appeared in mid-air over his hand. The blade dropped, slicing apart his drawn card, then faded away. Roland reached for his deck, and drew another card.

Tehuti blinked, then reacted angrily, "Hey, you bastard! You already drew for this turn!"

"Yes," Roland conceded, "but because this card was discarded from my hand…" He reached into his graveyard, gripped the top card on it, and held it up. Repayment of Losses. "I got to draw again."

Tehuti snarled, then grumbled, "Lucky bastard…"

"I switch Masked Swordsman to defense mode," Roland stated, as his Swordsman crouched down and held up its blade to ward off attacks. "Then I set a single card facedown, end turn." And that was it. His Masked Swordsman and a single card behind it against Tehuti's three sphinxes.

"I draw," Tehuti said simply, "and then Flip Summon Guardian Sphinx (1200/2400), which returns your Swordsman to your hand." The stone structure emerged once again, sending out a burst of energy that sent Masked Swordsman back into Roland's hand. "Criosphinx then discards a card from your hand at random, and since that's the only card in your hand…" The blue sphinx launched a burst of energy from its eyes, shoving the Masked Swordsman card into Roland's graveyard. And that was that. Tehuti smirked as Hieracosphinx took flight. "You put up a good struggle," Tehuti commended, "but in the end, the better duelist won." Suddenly a large pile of junk fell from the sky, cutting off Hieracosphinx's path and forcing the bird-lion to back away. "What in the world…?"

"Hey," Roland called, from behind the pile of junk, "don't say the better duelist won just yet." The junk faded away, revealing Roland and his now face-up Trap, "I haven't kicked your fat ass just yet, after all. In case you're wondering, my set card was Makeshift Barrier, which prevents all Battle Damage this turn at a cost of ten cards from the top of my deck." He reached down to his Duel Disk, and began thumbing through cards until he reached the appropriate number, then shoved all ten of them into his graveyard. "Afterwards, I draw one card for every Monster on your field in attack mode." Two more cards came off his deck, these ones going to his hand.

Tehuti frowned at this turn of events. Now Roland was not longer top-decking. "Very well then, I set a card facedown and end my turn." As Roland drew, something occurred to him, "Wait…you've used over forty cards from your deck, haven't you?"

Roland looked up from his three-card hand, and said, "What of it?"

Tehuti smirked, "That means you're getting close to decking out."

"Not quite," Roland countered, "I have exactly twelve cards left in my deck. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll take my turn. I begin by setting a Monster in defense mode."

Tehuti smirked again, and motioned to his facedown card, "Activate Compulsory Ejection Device!" The familiar spherical cannon popped into existence beneath Roland's set Monster, and hurtled it back into his hand. Then Criosphinx blasted a card from his hand into his graveyard.

Roland frowned. "Well, at least you got the Monster with Criosphinx…I set two cards facedown, and end my turn there."

Tehuti grumbled to himself in discontent for a few moments as he drew…then laughed out loud for fifteen whole seconds. "Boy…you have annoyed me to the extent that I no longer feel regret in using this against you…" One by one, he picked up all three Monsters, and discarded them into his graveyard…

'_What is he doing?'_ was the thought that went through Bakura's and Roland's heads at the same time.

All three sphinxes vanished from Tehuti's field, bursting into large amounts of sand that fell to the ground, then swirled together into a large column of sand, which began to mold into a large, stone figure. When it was complete, all present recognized it. It was the Great Sphinx of Egypt, though this one's nose was not broken, but complete, as it had been millennia before. Then the immense building began to crack…and shattered into a million pieces, revealing a flesh-and-blood version of the sphinx with a terrifying set of teeth and piercing, intelligent eyes. "Behold," said Tehuti as the Seal of Orichalcos formed on his new sphinx's head, granting it dark power, "The Great Sphinx (4000/4000) (4500/4000)!" The Great Sphinx roared, the pure force of the sound knocking Roland onto his back. "This all-powerful creature can only be summoned by sacrificing Criosphinx, Hieracosphinx, and Guardian Sphinx from my field, but its power is well worth the cost! Now, Great Sphinx, attack him directly and finish him off!" The Great Sphinx took a single, tremendous step forward, and lowered its jaws to consume Roland whole. At the same time, one of his set cards burst into the air and vanished. "When The Great Sphinx attacks, one card on your field is returned to your hand, and that card cannot be chained!" The lunging Great Sphinx kicked up sand everywhere, filling the entire ring formed by the Seal of Orichalcos with it and blinding all present.

Bakura waited with bated breath, _'Please don't tell me he lost…'_ he thought desperately, _'I don't want the world to end yet, I still have to take it over!'_

A voice spoke out from within the Seal, "Tell your kitty-cat it has some really bad breath." Then the sand blew away, revealing Tehuti, The Great Sphinx, and an unharmed Roland, smirking behind a spinning ring that was warding off the immense beast. "My Ring of Protection protects me from damage, so how about calling off puss-puss?"

Tehuti looked infuriated. "Act cocky if you want, you'll just be eaten on my next turn," he declared. Then he pointed at Roland's hand. "The Great Sphinx retains the effects of Criosphinx and Hieracosphinx, so discard that card from your hand."

Roland nodded, grinning, and placed the card into his graveyard. "Anything else?"

"Actually, yes," replied Tehuti, "I set a Monster facedown, and end my turn."

Roland snapped a card off of his deck, glanced at it, and placed it in his graveyard, "Card of Sanctity lets us both draw until holding six cards." He flicked another six cards off of his deck and fanned them out before scanning over them.

Tehuti also now had six cards in his hand, but was disappointed to see that none of them would be especially helpful. _'I'm also running low on cards in my deck…'_ he thought, _'but it doesn't matter. I have The Great Sphinx on the field, my victory is assured!'_

"I set a Monster in defense and another card facedown," Roland declared, the two cards springing into existence. Then he grinned, and slipped a third card into his Duel Disk, "And now to piss you off. I equip The Great Sphinx with Ekibyo Drakmord, which will prevent it from attacking until it's destroyed on your second End Phase after I play it!" The Great Sphinx suddenly shuddered in pain, and collapsed onto its stomach. The impact caused Tehuti to lose his balance, and fall over. "Yeah, I think that'll do it for me."

"You…you…" sputtered Tehuti, "insolent son of a bitch! I'll kill you!" He very nearly ripped his next card in half, but he didn't care. "I Flip Summon Sentry Golem (1000/1800) (1500/1800)!" Roland's eyes widened as the door with limbs appeared next to the quivering Sphinx. It trudged towards his set Monster, and with a single jab of its spear knocked it back into Roland's hand. Then one of his cards glowed red, and floated into his graveyard slot.

"Oh crap…" Roland muttered as he realized he was actually going to take a hit.

" 'Oh crap,' indeed!" shouted Tehuti, "Sentry Golem, skewer him!" The door lunged towards Roland, its spear piercing straight through his chest, causing him to cry out in agony (Roland LP: 300). "What now?" yelled Tehuti in rage, as the Sentry Golem removed its spear and walked back over to his field.

"T-…Trap…card…"Roland said, trying hard to breathe, "Gift…of the…Mystical Elf…I gained… 300 Life Points…for every Monster…before you…attacked…." His body glowed white momentarily, slightly healing the wound to his torso.

"Fine, fine!" yelled Tehuti, "I don't care anymore! I flip Sentry Golem facedown and set a card facedown before ending!" The Golem vanished, replaced by a facedown card, and was followed by another facedown appearing. "Now go so I can just kill you, damn it!"

"Yeah…" Roland reached for the top card of his deck, "c'mon…" He pulled it off the stack, and as he did so a burst of sand shot up around his Ekibyo Drakmord card, shattering it.

"I activated Dust Tornado," Tehuti declared, and a smirk slowly came across his face as The Great Sphinx recovered, and stood up with a bellow. "Now I'm free to attack you with my most powerful Monster next turn!"

He laughed, but Roland paid no attention, because he had seen his own draw. He tilted his head back and let out a laugh of his own, though it was quite as powerful. Tehuti stopped laughing to look at the teen with a confused expression. "You fat bastard…" Roland said with a grin, "there is no next turn. I set two cards facedown and play Temporal Distortion." The two facedown cards appeared, then suddenly they and Tehuti's remaining set card wavered a bit, a shattered. "This destroys all Spells and Traps on the field, and lets each player draw a card for each card they lost."

Tehuti nodded, and drew a single card. _'Well,'_ he thought, _'he destroyed my facedown Shockwave, which would have returned all his attack-mode Monsters to hid hand when he attacked…but that doesn't really matter, since there's no way he can possibly summon a Monster stronger than The Great Sphinx…is there?'_ Then he realized it. Roland had just drawn the last two cards of his deck.

Roland smirked, and calmly put aside the one card in his hand besides the two he had drawn. "This is your end, Tehuti," he said, completely seriously. He placed one of the two cards into his Duel Disk, and said, "The card you discarded with The Great Sphinx's effect…one of the cards I discarded with Makeshift Barrier…" Three orbs of silver light floated out of his graveyard, and hovered above his Monster zones. "Both…" he continued, "were Celtic Guardians (1400/1200)." The orbs vanished, each replaced with one of the elven swordsman. As one, they drew their blades, which glinted in the glow of the Seal of Orichalcos. "Which means I got to summon them with Renewal of Triplets."

Tehuti let out a breath he had been holding. The ominous build-up had made him nervous. "For moment there, I thought I was in trouble," he admitted, "but now I see there's nothing to worry about. Just a few weak, effect-less Monsters…even with Brave Attack, you can't get enough power to defeat The Great Sphinx."

Roland smirked. "Fat bastard…" he stated, "I'm sick of you ripping my Monsters. Now, I'm gonna kick your Yukon-sized ass." He played the other card he had drawn, and all three of his Celtic Guardians took up stances, blades held forward. "Go, Delta Attack Formation! Because there are three Normal Monsters of the same name on my field…" he drew his own sword from his waist, and raised it into the air, "all those Monsters can attack directly!"

"No…" Tehuti murmured, eyes wide with fear.

"Celtic Guardians…" Roland commanded, eyes blazing, and he raised the sword higher, then let it drop, pointing at Tehuti, "triple direct attack!" And that was the end of it. All three elves charged, their combined battle cries sending Tehuti scrabbling against the wall of the Seal of Orichalcos, but to no avail. The elves dodged around The Great Sphinx, and as one swung their blades, cutting the large Tehuti down in a magnificent display of skill and speed (Tehuti LP: 0).

The Seal began to close around Tehuti's still form, but Roland paid him no attention. Instead, he looked at his Celtic Guardians, who had sheathed their swords and turned to face him. Roland then put away his own blade, and said to them, calmly, "I am sorry for being unable to protect you in the battle…and thank you for still coming to fight for me anyways." The three elves nodded, and then the Seal closed completely around Tehuti's body, then vanished. As it did so, the three Celtic Guardians faded away, and Roland collapsed, exhausted, to his knees. At the same time, the dark veil surrounding them lifted, revealing the cool, silent night.

Bakura walked up behind Roland, and said, simply, "You didn't do too bad."

Roland shot Bakura a look, and said, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Bakura smirked, and took the teleportation device out of his pocket. "Nothing."

Roland shrugged, and stood up. "Well, a good start to an adventure, at least…" He turned to address Bakura, "Let's go."

Bakura nodded, and placed his hand on Roland's shoulder. "By the way…" he said, before trailing off.

"What?"

"If you puke…" Bakura said, activating the device, "don't do it on me." Then there was a flash of light, and they vanished.

* * *

Author's Notes: Roland Thomson was created by Yoshimo, an aspiring author who doesn't get a very big audience. Do the guy a favor and check out his stories. Also, don't get me wrong about Canada. Canada owns. And so does hockey.

Original cards this chapter:

Cards by Me: Emerge From Beneath the Sands, Impound, Bury Beneath the Sands, Buried Greed, Sphinx Revival, Selfless Sacrifice, Gaze of the Sphinx, Riddle of the Sphinx, Sand Storm, Soldiers of the Wood, Elven Blade, Heat Wave, Makeshift Barrier, The Great Sphinx

Cards by Seeker of the Soul: Spy Guesswork, Bounce, Compensation of Debt, Temporal Distortion, Renewal of Triplets

Cards by Yoshimo: Masked Swordsman

_Two of the six have been found, but danger is still everywhere. Yugi and the pharaoh successfully teleport to America and encounter the third destined defender, but are immediately met by the strangest and strongest of Todaku's followers yet. Can this new enemy's inner strength be overcome?_

_Next Time: Of Mice and Monsters_


	5. Of Mice and Monsters

For disclaimer, see the beginning of this story. Bastard.

With nothing else of note to say, let's move on to the chapter.

**Beneath the Surface**  
**by G.O.T. Nick**

**Chapter Four: Of Mice and Monsters**

Yami was happy when his feet were safely on the ground. It certainly beat the alternative state, when he had been broken into microscopic particles and accelerated through the infinitely numerous and infinitely small spaces scattered throughout the Earth. It had been rather…disorienting. But his latest jump had not caused him to vomit, which was an improvement over his first few attempts. Now he could safely traverse the area he had arrived in, and begin his search for whomever it was he needed to find. The pharaoh was not entirely too pleased with his navigator, the simple golden trinket he held in his palm. The small golden bull was glowing gradually brighter as he walked, providing him with light in addition to the multiple street lamps set up along the road. Otherwise, the road was dark, and silent.

This fact was a confusing one for Yami. How could it be the middle of the day in Japan, and the dead of night here in America? He had a hard time grasping the concept of what Yugi called "time zones." It was difficult to understand mostly because he had grown up believing the Earth was flat, and although he was able to accept that this was not the case, the concepts of latitude and longitude were rather vague to him. Besides that, Yugi kept on mentioning this green witch during his explanation, and Yami had no idea how this was linked to the time of day it was. In any case, it was night, and so he would walk until he found the person he sought. At least he would encounter little interference due to the fact that most normal people were asleep…

* * *

He reached up to rap on the door in front of him, but stopped. He shrugged, "Nah, that'll take too long." Then he pressed his hand against the door and calmly shoved into it. The door was sent flying off its hinges, and crashed into the hallway within. Then the man smirked to himself, glad to see his newfound strength at work. "Seems that Todaku's holding up his end of the deal so far," he said aloud, ignoring the loud alarm ringing in his ears. By the time the authorities arrived, his job would be done. He adjusted his light brown trench coat and stepped into the suburban home.

* * *

Yami's ears perked at the sudden sounding of the alarm, and he came to the rapid realization that trouble was waiting for him a ways down the street. Nonetheless, he quickly stepped up his pace, following the sound of the blaring alarm.

* * *

Kevin Hunter's life had been going well the past few months. He had participated in a major Duel Monsters tournament the past summer in Tokyo, and had thoroughly enjoyed his trip. It hadn't been easy gathering up the money necessary to make such an expensive voyage, but it had all ended up being beneficial for the blonde teen in the end. The twenty-five thousand dollars that the tournament's holder, Alexander Cerberus, had given to the attendees of the finals had more than covered Kevin's expenses. It was an added bonus that he had gotten to meet some of the game's top competitors. More recently, his parents had left town for the past week, and were due in the following morning. Kevin had certainly enjoyed that time, having taken advantage of the vacancy to throw a "little" party several nights ago, although the full two days of cleaning up afterwards hadn't been as enjoyable. Still, he was on winter vacation, and thus was enjoying himself. What teenager wouldn't?

Unfortunately for young Kevin, this time was at its end. Thankfully still dressed in his street clothes, which consisted of blue jeans and a white t-shirt, he grabbed his jacket from a nearby pile of unceremoniously deposited clothes on the floor near his bed, and made his way out of his bed room to investigate the loud noise he had just heard. He threw on the black jacket as he descended the stairs just outside his room, jumping the last five in one quick leap. After the last step, he was surprised to find the front door to his home in pieces against the wall. "What in the…" then he turned around, and stared at the person who had entered rather unceremoniously.

The man was wearing a light brown trench coat, long and wide enough to cover his entire body save his head. His hair was a very dirty blonde, and very trim. There was a Duel Disk locked onto his left arm…and he stood only four feet tall. Kevin looked at the intruder, who appeared not to be carrying anything save his Duel Disk, then back at the shattered door behind him, then back at the intruder again. Finally, he asked the obvious question, "How…did you just do that?"

The man sighed, and raised his right arm. "Why does everyone underestimate me?" Then he punched his right fist clean through the wall next to him, pulled his hand out, and gripped the area where he had made a small hole. He calmly pulled, ripping a chunk of plaster from the wall about three feet in diameter. Kevin's eyes widened as the man casually twisted his body slightly, and threw the chunk of plaster right at him. Kevin threw himself to the floor, barely ducking under the rapidly flying projectile, which crashed on top of the shattered door behind him. "Now that I've gotten your attention," the man said, walking slowly towards Kevin. As he walked, he reached up towards the guardrail of the stairs, and ripped one of the cylindrical supports from it. Brandishing the support as a club, he continued speaking, "Get your Duel Disk and your deck. Now. Or I'll kill you."

Kevin nodded quickly, heaving himself up off of the ground and bounding up the stairs, back to his room, to grab his dueling equipment. Meanwhile, the man looked about at the small amount of destruction he had dealt to the building. "Hm…not bad, I don't feel strained in the least. It seems that Todaku's holding up his end of the deal so far…" He looked down at his arm, which was currently pulsing with pain, and sneered. "That moronic bastard just had to go and make him mad though, didn't he? I could've done without this fucking-" Suddenly a blast of golden energy struck his back, causing him to jerk forward slightly. He twisted around, and glared at the one who had launched the blast. There, in the doorway, stood a man slightly taller than himself with an incredibly outrageous hairdo, piercing violet eyes, and a golden pyramid chained around his neck, currently glowing with power and clutched in its wielder's right hand. "The pharaoh…I was warned about you…"

Yami matched the man's look, and prepared to defend himself. _'My attack barely even phased him, when it could have struck any human being unconscious…what kind of power does he possess?'_ "Who are you?" he demanded sharply, "Who sent you here?"

The man smirked, and replied while stepping sharply on the ground, "I am Peque, and you're hardly in a position to make any other demands!" Shockwaves rippled out from where his foot had impacted against the floor, sending the wooden boards flying in a torrent towards the millennia-old pharaoh. Yami grunted, and raised the Millennium Puzzle in front of him, willing a barrier of golden energy to come forward and block the wave of wooden planks. The boards clattered to the ground, but before Yami could collect his wits Peque was suddenly in front of him. The short man pounded against Yami's barrier, the mere brute strength behind them causing the pharaoh to stumble backwards from the assault. After a final kick to the shield, Peque leapt backwards, and grabbed the guardrail to the staircase. In one swift jerk, he tore the entire banister from the stairwell and swung it in a wide arc. Yami gasped in surprise as the long, makeshift weapon slammed into his barrier with such speed and force that it shattered both itself and his barrier. Yami was slammed up against the wall, dazing him as the banister fell about him in splinters.

Peque smirked to himself and dashed up the stairs before the pharaoh could collect himself. Although confident in his own abilities, Peque had been informed of the Millennium Puzzle's capabilities, and knew better than to extend the quarrel. Besides, he had a job to do. Kevin stood at the summit of the stairs, Duel Disk on and activated, his deck in place. Peque smirked and grabbed the teen by his jacket's collar and dragged him into the hallway on the second floor. Then he lifted Kevin straight up off the ground with one hand and threw him about ten feet across the hallway before activating his own Duel Disk. "Get up, kid, and let's duel!" (Peque LP: 4000)

Kevin slowly got to his feet, and wiped away a bit of blood that was trickling from his lip. "Alright, let's do it!" (Kevin LP: 4000)

As soon as his life point counter was lit up, darkness began to surge from Peque's body, surrounding both he and Kevin in an orb of black shadows. "This will be our arena," Peque stated, drawing six cards, "and the site of your death." He quickly glanced over the six cards in his hand, and selected one, "To begin the duel I play Ominous Foresight, which lets me look at the top five cards of my deck, then rearrange them in any order I choose." In one smooth jerk, he slipped all five of the affected cards from his deck. He smirked, and separated one from the other four, which he placed on top. Then he shoved all five back into his Duel Disk, and continued, "I end with a monster in defense and two cards facedown. Your move."

Kevin drew a card and bit his lip, ignoring the thoughts of panic in the back of his head. After the events that had transpired at Tokyo, he had reason to be afraid of this duelist, having experienced the power of the darkness first hand. _'But back then…there were powerful people to protect me and all the other competitors…right now, I'm on my own…'_ A quick at his hand, however, bolstered his confidence. He plucked one card from his hand free and slammed it onto his Duel Disk, causing a pterodactyl-like creature with blue, leathery skin and a sharp, elongated beak to appear before him. "I summon Spear Dragon (1900/0) in attack mode!" he declared, before pointing at Peque's monster. "Spear Dragon has the ability to deal damage through defense, so he'll attack your monster!" At Kevin's words, his dragon opened its maw, and let loose a burst of energy that slammed into Peque's facedown monster. The card flipped up, temporarily revealing a skeletal figure wearing the clothing of an ancient Egyptian guard before the blast destroyed it.

"My monster was Pharaoh's Servant (900/0)," Peque explained, picking the card off of his Duel Disk and showing it to Kevin, unperturbed even as his life points took a large hit (Peque LP: 2100). His eyes shifted to look at Kevin's Spear Dragon, which had just crouched to the ground and folded its wings in front of itself defensively. "Ah, and your monster of course switches to defense mode through its effect, meaning it will be vulnerable come my next turn."

Kevin smirked, and flipped around one of the five remaining cards in his hand, "That's what you think," his card glowed, and suddenly his Spear Dragon became encased in a large block of diamond. "From my hand I activate Revival of the Diamond Blade, sacrificing my Spear Dragon to summon Diamond Head Dragon (?)!" Invisible blades swept through the chunk of diamond, sculpting it into a large, winged dragon. Its scales were a pale green, disrupted at various points, including at the crown of its head, by chunks of diamond. Its eyes were a pupil-less yellow, and the fragments of diamond embedded in its body glowed with internal power. "Now, suffer because your monster was a weakling!" shouted Kevin, thrusting a finger at Peque, "Diamond Head Dragon's strength is equal to that of the monster sacrificed to summon it, plus 1000 (2900/1000)! And because Revival of the Diamond Blade is a quick-play spell, it's still my battle phase! Diamond Head Dragon, attack with Diamond Burst!" The large dragon lifted its massive, encrusted head, and belched out a hail of diamond shard, which soared towards Peque.

Peque smirked, and motioned to one of his facedown cards, which flipped up. Instantly, a golden barrier swept up in front of him, blocking the avalanche of diamonds and absorbing them into itself. "Idiot," he remarked, "just because a duelist doesn't defend himself from one attack doesn't mean he's unprotected. It just means they think the attack is so weak it's not worth the effort. Now, my Drain Shield gives me back everything you took on your last attack, plus a thousand more (Peque LP: 5000)." Soon afterwards the Diamond Head Dragon ceased its assault, and the golden barrier around Peque dissipated.

Kevin frowned, and muttered to himself, "Alright, no one-turn kill…but I've got a strong monster, and for him to be using such weak ones as that Servant is a good sign…" He selected one of the four cards remaining in his hand and said, more loudly, "I set one card facedown, and end my turn."

Peque smirked, and gripped the top card of his deck. However, he paused as his ears detected a noise coming from behind him. "Ah, the pharaoh," he said with a smirk, turning to face the proclaimed man, as he stepped through the shadows without hindrance, "welcome."

Yami narrowed his eyes at Peque, knowing full well how dangerous the short man was. "Peque, leave Kevin out of this," he warned, activating his Duel Disk, "if you wish to duel someone, then face me!"

Peque chuckled, and turned away from him to lock eyes with Kevin. "Duel against you?" he responded, "At my current state, I wouldn't stand a snowflake's chance. However, Todaku did promise that he would increase the magnitude of the powers he already has given me should I win this duel… Perhaps then, we'll clash once more. In any case, don't try to stop me. The shadows that I have summoned prevent the duel from being stopped until a decision is reached. So…" he snapped the top card off his deck and slid it into his Duel Disk without bothering to glance at it, "I begin my turn by playing the card I placed on top of my deck with Ominous Foresight. This card is called Enchanting Fitting Room, and to play it I must pay 800 life points (Peque LP: 4200)." As his life point counter trickled down, he slipped the next four cards off the top of his deck and held them up for Kevin to see. "Enchanting Fitting Room lets me pick up the top four cards of my deck and summon all level three or lower normal monsters amongst them. The rest are shuffled into my deck, but…" he tapped the side of his head, and grinned, "something tells me I won't have to bother with shuffling."

"Damn it…" Kevin muttered under his breath as he looked at the cards Peque held up to him, which were all level two Normal Monsters. One by one, Peque placed them on his Duel Disk, and they shimmered into view before him. Two were Pharaoh's Servants, and the others were similar zombies, with slightly different clothing. All four appeared to have the same strength (900/0 x4).

"Two Pharaoh's Servants, and two Pharaonic Guardians," Peque announced, before filling up his final Monster zone with a card from his hand, "and I summon a third Pharaonic Guardian (900/0) from my hand, completing the set."

Kevin grimaced, seeing five opposing monsters to his one, but still feeling secure about his chances. "You have more monsters on the field than I do, but they're all weak," he stated matter-of-factly, "and without any effects, there's hardly anything you can do with them."

Peque scowled at his opponent's comments. "Don't underestimate me, boy," he said, fingering a card in his hand, "just because something appears weak doesn't mean it can't crush you. My monsters and I will crush you, with our internal strength!" He slid the card he had been focusing on into his Duel Disk, and a large black sword with an eye just below the base of the blade appeared in the final Pharaonic Guardian's hands. "I play Sword of the Soul Eater!" Peque yelled, as the other four zombies on his field crumpled into dust, and the black sword in the final one's hands was eclipsed in a dark aura. "This sacrifices all Normal Monsters on my side of the field besides the equipped monster, which must be level three or lower and have no effect. The equipped monster's attack then increases by 1000 for each monster offered to the sword (4900/0)!"

Kevin gasped as the small Pharaonic Guardian swept the black blade in a large arc, sending out a wave of dark energy before Peque even needed to declare an attack. He motioned to his single set card, which flipped up. Immediately his Diamond Head Dragon was shielded by a large crystalline barrier, which deflected the arc of dark energy. "Diamond Shield lets me negate one attack!" he stated, as the Pharaonic Guardian lowered its sword. "Also, after this effect has resolved, I may summon one jeweled dragon from my hand. I summon Hyozanryu (2100/2800) in defense mode!" The diamond barrier suddenly broke apart, taking the shape of a winged dragon with diamond scales. It was just as large as the Diamond Head Dragon, though not as powerful, and its snout ended in a large, sharp horn.

Peque chuckled, and held up his hands, which were empty. "I have no other cards to play. Your move."

Yami smirked as he walked around the arena, making his way towards Kevin's side of the field. "It seems your aggressive strategy didn't work, Peque," he said to the short man, "you wasted a great deal of monsters and resources for nothing." Peque said nothing in response; instead he simply crossed his arms over his chest.

Kevin smirked at this, and snapped the top card off the top of his deck. His expression brightened at his drawn card, and he immediately played it. "I play A Wingbeat of Giant Dragon, which returns one high-level dragon on my field to my hand in order to destroy all spells and traps in play. I return Hyozanryu!" The diamond-scaled dragon let out a roar and flapped its immense, reflective wings. A large gust of wind swept forth as a result, blowing away the Sword of the Soul Eater along with Peque's facedown card.

Peque frowned as his Pharaonic Guardian's attack dropped drastically (900/0), but also snapped a card off the top of his deck. "My facedown card was Repayment of Losses," he explained simply, "so I drew a card when it was sent to the graveyard."

Kevin grinned, and played another card. As he did so, a human-sized, purple-scaled dragon with twin heads emerged on his field with a bellow. "I couldn't care less about your drawn card, because with my Twin-Headed Behemoth (1500/1200) joining Diamond Head Dragon, you're about to feel some pain! Attack!" His reptilian beasts reacted quickly to his command. First, the Behemoth let out two bursts of fire from its mouths, torching Peque's lone defending zombie (Peque LP: 3600). Next, the Diamond Head Dragon opened its mouth again and a hail of razor-sharp diamonds fell upon Peque, who shielded his face with his arms as the crystals fell upon him (Peque LP: 700). "I end my turn there."

It was only after making this final declaration that Kevin noticed that Peque was injured. The man lowered his arms, which were imbedded with several diamond shards, from his head. Blood was now soaking into his brown coat in various places where his flesh had been pierced by the barrage of sharp crystal. "Surprised?" Peque asked with a grin, as he tore off the remains of his ruined coat. He was wearing jeans and a sleeveless white shirt underneath. He began plucking out pieces of diamond from his body as he spoke, "The darkness that surrounds us is nothing like a true Darkness game, but it does increase the realism of this duel a substantial amount. For an attack as powerful as the Diamond Head Dragon's…well, I might have died if my newly unlocked power did not strengthen me."

Blood trickling down his arms, he pried loose the final bit of diamond from his body, and dropped it to the floor. "This serves only as a demonstration of the strength I possess, and will possess," he stated with a sick grin, "I will make my weak monsters strong, far stronger than a level you can ever achieve, and we will crush you beneath our feet and grow even stronger! Nothing will stop us! Now, prepare for your end!" He drew, and played the other card in his hand quickly, "Jar of Avarice shuffles five of the six monsters in my graveyard back into my deck, then lets me draw two cards!" He quickly shuffled his cards together, then slapped his deck back into his Duel Disk and drew twice. "I continue with Painful Choice, so make your choice!" He held up an open hand to his deck, and five cards immediately slid into his fingers. He held up the five cards for Kevin to choose.

Kevin peered at the five cards Peque was holding. "Three of those monsters, and two Repayment of Losses…" He put a hand to his chin in thought, and began to think aloud. "Well, when Repayment goes to the graveyard, you draw a card, so…keep one of them."

Peque nodded, and slipped the other four cards into his graveyard, then drew a card from the discarded spell's effect. That left him with four cards in his hand. "Now to complete my combo, I play Graceful Charity, to draw three cards and discard two!" Kevin could only look on in frustration as Peque did so, then drew another card from his deck afterwards, "Of course, one of the cards I discard is Repayment of Losses, so that gives me five cards in hand total. So now…let's see what I can do now, shall we?" He glanced over the five cards he had acquired after emptying his hand in his previous turn. Eventually he selected two of them, and slid them into his Duel Disk, "I set two cards facedown, and end my turn."

Kevin blinked, having expected something far more groundbreaking with so many options available to his opponent. Not that he was complaining… "I draw," he declared, having three cards in hand to match Peque. He did not hesitate to decide what his next action was, "Diamond Head Dragon, attack directly for the win!" His large dragon complied, opening its mouth and preparing to launch another powerful blast of diamonds.

Peque snickered, and waved his finger back and forth. "I'm afraid I can't allow that to happen," he countered, as one of his cards flipped up, "my trap card, Divine Punishment, allows me to discard a card from my hand, and destroy all monsters on the field with effects."

Kevin gasped, "No!" But he could do nothing as two bolts of lightning suddenly crashed down from the sky, blowing apart both of his dragons. He grimaced, and looked over his hand. _'No monsters I can summon…'_ he thought. Instead, he set the two cards in his hand besides Hyozanryu into his Duel Disk. Still, he did have a full four thousand life points remaining. It was not likely that Peque would be able to deal an extraordinary amount of damage in one turn, especially with such weak monsters.

Peque smirked, and motioned to his other set card, "Before you end your turn, allow me to activate my other trap." The card flipped up, and an ornate sarcophagus sprung into existence in front of its player. "This is The First Coffin," he stated, as another coffin suddenly appeared next to the first. "During my opponent's End Phase, this card activates The Second Coffin from my deck, and it will activate The Third Coffin at the end of your next turn. When all three have been activated, you will die."

Kevin narrowed his eyes, and motioned to the area in front of his two set cards. As he did so, his Twin-Headed Behemoth, looking slightly weaker than before, emerged from the ground. "Don't get so confident just yet, Peque," he warned, "once per duel, at the end of the turn that it's destroyed, my Behemoth is summoned back to the field, with its stats set at one thousand (1000/1000)."

"Don't put so much faith in your monster, Kevin," Yami warned the blonde teen, "I believe that Peque was aware of your monster's effect when he made his declaration."

Peque nodded in agreement, "That's precisely right, so let's see what my new card gives me…" he drew. "But first, the effect of a card I discarded last turn activates. Late Delivery lets me draw two cards on the standby phase of the turn after I discard it." He grinned, now having a full five cards in his hand. "Ah…and of course, the card I drew during my draw phase gives me complete and absolute victory," he grinned again, and began to place another card from his hand into his Duel Disk, when a sudden thought struck him. "Wait…Kevin…America…dragon cards…" he quirked an eyebrow, and looked directly at Kevin's face. "You're Kevin Hunter, correct?"

Kevin blinked, and simply nodded in response. What did this guy care about who exactly he was?

Peque suddenly spat at the ground right in front of Kevin, and looked at him with an expression of disgust on his face. "You repulse me…"

Kevin looked at the spit on the ground in front of him, then looked back up at Peque, "You're one to talk…"

"You're style of dueling is revolting," Peque continued, unimpeded, "or I suppose, the way you've been winning is that way." He held up a hand, with three fingers extended, "Three times, I've heard about you winning some minor Duel Monsters tournament. And each time, the story was the same. You were losing, and then you got lucky…" he lowered his hand, "and got that Blue Eyes White Dragon out. Then you won…"

Kevin snarled, and said, "What's wrong with winning with the Blue Eyes? I won that card fair and square at the tournament in Tokyo, so why shouldn't I use it?"

Peque responded with a suddenly, very piercing glare, "Because you are a pathetic weakling without it!" he shouted, "There's no way you could have won any of those duels without that card!" He clenched his fists together, a sudden wild look in his eyes, "A true duelist doesn't need to rely on his own damned cards to win, and a truly strong duelist doesn't even need his cards to be strong at all!" He snapped a hand up, and pointed a shaking finger at Kevin as he declared, "That is the difference between the two of us, Hunter! You are weak, and rely on the strength of a single card to grant you victory, while I am strong, and can make my own cards strong if they have no power of their own!" He slammed the card he had selected earlier into his Duel Disk, "And that is why I will win! I play The Third Coffin! And with the set complete, all three are sent to the graveyard!" A final sarcophagus sprang into being just next to the other two, before they all opened, releasing three bursts of energy that swirled about each other, bringing into being a tall, humanoid figure with blue skin and wearing ornate, golden, ancient Egyptian clothing. "By sending the three Coffins to the graveyard, I summon Spirit of Pharaoh (2500/2000) from my deck!"

Kevin narrowed his eyes at the sight of the strong creature. "I don't understand what you were just lecturing me over if you were just going to summon a strong monster yourself. That's a bit hypocritical."

Peque smirked, and replied, "This monster is just the means to an end, fool. When Spirit of Pharaoh is summoned, I may then summon as many zombies of level two and less from my graveyard to the field as I can. These monsters cannot have effects!" The Spirit of Pharaoh raised a cane-like object in one arm and waved it. The object glowed, and four of the weak zombies that Peque had summoned earlier reappeared around it (900/0). "And now I will complete my army of weak monsters by playing Reverse Sacrifice," Peque continued, as suddenly the Spirit of Pharaoh vanished and was replaced by another weak zombie, "by sacrificing one monster on my field, I can summon a monster of lesser level from my graveyard. The summoned monster then gains four hundred attack and defense points times the number of levels difference between itself and the monster sacrificed to summon it (2500/1600)."

Kevin was slightly taken aback, "Why did you bother trading one monster for another when they have the same attack power?"

"Because now he has five low-level monsters without effects…" muttered Yami to himself, his eyes widening, "which means-"

"I play Law of the Normal!" declared Peque, placing one of his four remaining cards in his Duel Disk, "this requires there to be five level two or lower monsters on my field, all with no effects. Now all monsters besides those like mine, as well as our hands, are sent to the graveyard!" Kevin took a step back in shock as the five zombies began emitting silver auras, which expanded and overlapped in a larger twister of energy that crashed into the middle of the field, sending out an immense shockwave. Kevin's Twin-Headed Behemoth was ripped apart by the impact, and the Hyozanryu in his hand was torn from his grasp. As the twister dispersed, he could tell that Peque's hand was also gone. "Naturally, playing a card that destroys my hand as well as your own does carry a risk. However, considering my monsters' combined attack power (6100) exceeds your life points…well, that's not really a problem, now is it? Pharaoh's Servants and Pharaonic Guardians, attack directly!" The five zombies hefted their ornate polearms, and rushed towards the defenseless Kevin.

In response, Kevin pressed two buttons on his Duel Disk, one after another, causing both his facedown cards to flip up. "My first set card is Gift of the Fallen!" he declared, as he held his hand up to his graveyard slot, which spat out several cards at him, "at a cost of removing up to five monsters in my graveyard from play, I gain five hundred life points for each one removed!" He held up four cards: Spear Dragon, Diamond Head Dragon, Hyozanryu, and Twin-Headed Behemoth, and his life points shot up (Kevin LP: 6000), though his graveyard was left empty of monsters.

"It's useless!" shouted Peque, as his monsters continued running towards his opponent, "your life points will still hit zero!"

"My other facedown is Emergency Provisions," continued Kevin, ignoring Peque, "by sacrificing Gift of the Fallen before it goes to the graveyard, I gain one thousand life points (Kevin LP: 7000)!" Then he bowed his head and crossed his arms across his body to shield it as best as he could. He bit back the first three cries of pain as his arms were pierced by three weapons, but when the fourth and fifth stabbed his stomach and leg, he couldn't stop himself. He wailed in agony as his blood splashed along the floor (Kevin LP: 900).

Peque snorted in disappointment as his zombies removed their weapons from Kevin's beaten body. As they lurched back to his field, Peque grimaced in distaste as Kevin slumped, collapsing to his knees. "It's just as I said," the man spoke, now actually looking down at the teenager, "you are weak. You can't even take a hit from the weakest of my deck's three strategies."

Kevin's eyes widened upon hearing this statement, and he gasped. "Weakest?"

Yami grimaced, "This isn't good…Kevin is still in the duel, but because of his injuries, he may not even be able to continue…and Peque makes it sound like this is only the beginning…if only I knew some sort of healing magic, but…"

Peque sighed, "Will you two stop giving me those looks of surprise and despair already? I just want to kill Kevin and get this over with, is that so much to ask?" He flexed his fingers, eager to complete his business, "Come on, little worm, crawl towards me just a little so I can crush you beneath my boot…I like how things have been turning out recently, but I want to get even stronger than I am now…"

"Strength…" Yami murmured under his breath, and his eyes sparked with realization. "Kevin!" he shouted, catching the blonde's reaction, "That's it!"

Kevin looked at the pharaoh as if he had just gone crazy, "What are you talking about?"

"Peque says he's a strong duelist because he doesn't rely upon his cards," Yami stated, "that's a strength, but at the same time a weakness. He doesn't trust his cards to come through for him, instead he trusts himself to make his cards work." He smiled confidently, and for some reason, perhaps because his time as a ruler had made him an inspiring leader, Kevin felt the weight of despair lifting off his shoulders. "A true duelist is neither of those," Yami continued, removing his deck from its protector, and absent-mindedly shuffling it, "a real duelist believes both in himself, and the heart of his cards. They become truly strong through a bond, each making the other reach their true potential." He finished shuffling his deck, "And if a duelist can achieve that with their deck," he flicked the top card off his deck, and smirked, showing it to be his signature card, the Dark Magician, "they will always come through for each other."

Kevin stared at the confident form of the pharaoh for a few moments, then returned the smirk, and nodded. He slowly picked himself off the ground, and let his jacket drop off his shoulders. He removed his torn shirt, and ripped the fabric into strips, which he used as makeshift bandages to tie the wounds on his torso, arms, and leg. The process took about five minutes, after which he picked up his jacket and tugged it back on. _'I cannot be strong if I rely upon the Blue Eyes White Dragon…'_ he thought to himself as he drew his card for the start of his turn, _'but I also cannot be strong if I do not believe in my cards… One of us will not dominate the other. Instead, we will work together, and…'_ "I will win this duel!" he promised, slamming his drawn card into his Duel Disk, "Taxation of Soul lets me draw one card for each of my cards that is removed from play, to a maximum of four!" Four cards slid from the top of his deck, and he fanned them out before making his selection. He grinned as the card hit his Duel Disk, and the monster it represented shimmered into being, "Sapphire Dragon (1900/1600) is my newest monster!" he declared. "And with no facedown cards or cards in your hand, that means you're open to an attack!" He thrust a finger, pointing at one of the zombies, "Sapphire Dragon, attack one of the weaker zombies now!"

Peque sneered, and snapped his fingers. Suddenly, all five of his monsters exploded, before Kevin's dragon could even unleash its attack. "I remove a card from my graveyard to activate its effect," he declared, as a card slipped out of the graveyard slot of his Duel Disk, "Final Gambit allows me to sacrifice all cards on my field in order to negate all damage to my life points this turn, and also gain three hundred life points for each card sacrificed to its effect (Peque LP: 2200)."

Kevin frowned, and set a card facedown. "I end my turn. But why sacrifice your monsters after putting so much effort into accumulating them."

Peque rolled his eyes as he drew, "Don't be so sympathetic. Here, if you want me to have some heart, I'll throw my monsters a funeral. My next card is Remembering the Normal, which lets me draw one card for every two monsters in my graveyard without effects." He smirked, slipping three cards off of his deck, effectively tripling his hand size at no cost. "Now that you've bested the first part of my strategy, it's time I start preparing for the next. I set one card facedown and a monster in defense mode." The two cards materialized before him at these words, but Kevin quickly reacted.

"I activate my facedown card," Kevin declared, as a strange device suddenly rose up beneath Peque's set monster and shot it like a cannonball back into his hand, "Compulsory Ejection Device returns that monster to your hand!"

Peque frowned, obviously having not expected this counter. "Very well, boy. I end my turn."

As soon as he heard that, Kevin drew, determined to bring the duel to an end here and now, "I summon Avarice Dragon (500/200)!" Another dragon, this one smaller than the Sapphire Dragon and with darker scales, appeared next to the stronger dragon with a high-pitched roar. In its small claws, it clutched a pearl the size of its small head. "Now, both my dragons attack directly!" Kevin declared, as both of his creatures let loose bursts of energy from their mouths. The Avarice Dragon's breath weapon struck Peque in his chest, singing his shirt, but before the Sapphire Dragon's attack could make a hit, Peque's facedown card had flipped up.

"I activate Life Force Devourer!" Peque declared, as a strange machine appeared between he and the blast unleashed by Kevin's dragon. An attachment shaped like a satellite dish at the top of the machine was struck by the Sapphire Dragon's blast, but seemed unharmed. In fact, from the dish sprung a chain of black energy that coiled along the dragon's attack, snaking towards the jeweled beast. Soon, the black chain reached the dragon, and wrapped around it, causing it to suddenly decompose in a manner of seconds. The dragon's breath attack was interrupted, and the black energy retreated back into its source.

"What…what happened?" asked a bewildered Kevin.

Peque rolled his eyes, "What do you think happened? My trap destroys one attacking monster. As an added bonus, I then gain three hundred life points for each level of the destroyed monster, so thank you for that (Peque LP: 2900). Now, anything else before I take my turn and kill you?"

Kevin scowled, and played another card, "I play Dragon's Descent. By sacrificing one monster on my field, I may now summon a dragon from my hand." His Avarice Dragon appeared in a vortex of light, and a much larger dragon with a layer of crimson scales over another layer of dark blue ones appeared in its place. "I summon Death Volstargaf (2200/1700) using this effect."

Peque snorted, "Using up your entire hand just to trade one monster for a stronger one? Not very smart of you…"

"Look who's talking," Kevin shot back with a smirk, "you obviously don't know the effect of my Avarice Dragon. When it's sent to the graveyard from the field, I get to draw two cards." He slipped two cards from his deck, and set one of them into his Duel Disk. "One card facedown will do it. End turn."

Peque drew without hesitation. "Let's see…Ah, I know what I'll do. First I set a monster and one spell or trap card facedown," as he spoke, the two cards appeared in front of him, looking far less impressive than Kevin's dragon. However, Peque was far from done with his actions, "I then play Card of Sanctity, which lets both players draw until they hold six cards." Immediately he replenished his hand with six new cards, while Kevin drew a slightly less rewarding five cards. Before he continued, Peque noticed that Kevin's dragon was suddenly surrounded by a small, green aura.

"Death Volstargaf has two effects," stated Kevin, "one activates when he destroys a monster, and the other increases his attack by two hundred until the end of the turn each time a spell is played (2400/1700)."

Peque nodded in understanding, but otherwise ignored this information. It would hardly matter soon anyways… "I set three more cards facedown," he stated, as three more set cards appeared next to his first, giving him four total, "and I end my turn."

"My turn," Kevin responded in kind, drawing to give himself a full seven cards to work with, "I summon Magma the Hellfire Ryu (1600/1500)." Another dragon, this one on four legs with scales to match its namesake, bright blue eyes, and wings of pure flame, appeared standing next to Kevin's Sapphire Dragon. "I then continue by equipping Death Volstargaf with Big Bang Shot. This card grants him four hundred more attack, so in total that's a six hundred-point boost (2800/1700). Also, he gains the ability to deal damage through defense."

Peque rolled his eyes, "I'll save you the trouble of declaring an attack." With that said, one of his four facedown cards flipped up, and an immensely loud bellow resounded from it, causing Kevin's dragons to take a step back. "Threatening Roar prevents you from attacking this turn."

Kevin frowned at this lost opportunity, but simply continued his turn. "One card facedown, and that'll do it. Death Volstargaf also loses the two hundred attack it gained when I played Big Bang Shot (2600/1700)."

"Yes, yes, yes…" Peque said dismissively as he drew. Then he adjusted the monster card on his Duel Disk, as well as pressed a series of buttons. "I flip up all four of my cards currently on the field," he stated, as one by one the cards revealed themselves. First was his monster, a square-shaped creature with slitted eyes and a small, circular mouth. There was a strange pink antler extending from the top of its head, which curled in a circle like a halo a few inches above the rest of its body. From its back extended a pair of small, yellow-feathered wings. The three cards behind it were all permanent cards, one a spell (Death Volstargaf: 2800/1700) and the others traps. "My monster is Moke Moke (300/100)," stated Peque, "and my three continuous cards are Moke Moke Smackdown, Spirit Barrier, and Human Wave Tactics." He continued by placing another monster on his Duel Disk, "I summon a second Moke Moke (300/100)."

"Um…"Kevin uttered, confused, "this is your second strategy?"

"Of course," Peque replied with a smirk, "I think you need to study up on your knowledge of cards, boy. Moke Moke, attack his Hellfire Ryu!" The small angel flapped its tiny wings and took off, charging the dragon. Magma responded by belching out a fireball at the creature, burning it to ash far before it could reach the larger dragon. "Spirit Barrier prevents all damage to my life points while I control a monster," Peque stated, pointing to the face-up trap, "and now the effect of Moke Moke Smackdown activates! Whenever an angel on my field is destroyed, all Moke Mokes on my field have their attack points set to three thousand (3000/100)!" The remaining Moke Moke's antenna suddenly shot up, so that it looked like an exclamation point, and the small angel's face warped into an expression of fury as its pale skin turned bright red. "Moke Moke, attack the same dragon!" The puffed-up angel soared towards the fire dragon, intent on avenging its fallen kin.

"I activate my facedown card, Shrink!" Kevin countered, as the set card flipped up and the attacking Moke Moke shrunk to half its original size, just before the Hellfire Ryu countered its assault with another blast of flame, frying it in mid-air. "This halves the attack strength of one monster on the field until the end of the turn, so Moke Moke (1500/100) was weaker than Magma."

Peque frowned, and crossed his arms over his chest. "I end my turn. During the end of a turn in which level two or lower normal monsters are destroyed, Human Wave Tactics summons an equal number from my deck to the field. Therefore, I summon another Moke Moke (300/100) and Ojama Green (0/1000)." The third and final square-shaped angel appeared in front of him, accompanied by a strange, small green humanoid. The green thing had a muscular build, a single yellow eye, and an overly large tongue that hung out of its mouth, and wore red briefs with white polka dots.

Kevin grinned, seeing that Peque had no other facedown cards to impede his attacks now. After drawing, he pointed at Magma, "Magma's effect deals you two hundred damage at the start of each of my turns." The fire dragon spat out a burst of flame that struck Peque in the chest, very lightly scorching him (Peque LP: 2700). "Magma now attacks Moke Moke!" Once more, the Hellfire Ryu breathed flames upon Peque's monster, now having single-handedly destroyed all three of the small angels. "Death Volstargaf, continue by attacking Ojama Green!" The larger dragon complied, breathing out a stream of black flames that consumed the strange creature, which screamed in an almost comical manner as it was burnt to death. "Spirit Barrier may negate the battle damage," Kevin stated, "but Death Volstargaf's effect now deals you five hundred damage because he destroyed a monster in battle!" Peque didn't even flinch as black flames suddenly sprung up around his body, dealing him damage (Peque LP: 2200). "And that's all for now."

As soon as he said those words, two more small humanoids appeared in front of Peque, similar to Ojama Green. One was yellow, skinny, and had a pair of eyes mounted on stalks extending from the top of its head. The other more closely resembled a human, except for its extreme chubbiness and enormous nose, and had blubbery, black skin. "These are Ojama Yellow (0/1000) and Ojama Black (0/1000)," Peque stated as he drew, before playing his drawn card, "and with Silent Doom reviving Ojama Green (0/1000), the stage is set for your downfall." The green Ojama appeared between the other two, and the odd trio rejoiced at being together on the field.

Kevin looked at the three weak monsters and frowned, not sure what to make of the situation. All three had zero attack strength, but this was apparently Peque's most powerful set of monsters… But how?

"I play Ojama Delta Hurricane!" Peque exclaimed, slamming a card into his Duel Disk. The three Ojamas suddenly grouped together in an odd formation, pressing their butts together and spinning about rapidly. The spinning trio then flew over to Kevin's field, and an explosion ripped out, kicking up smoke everywhere. "When all three of these monsters are on the field, my Hurricane destroys every card you have in play!"

When the smoke cleared, however, Kevin's Avarice Dragon (500/200) could be seen crouching in front of him. "When your destruction effect went off, I activated my set card, Half Dead," he explained, "a trap card that activates when a monster on my field is summoned. Half Dead then summons a monster from my graveyard with up to half the level of the destroyed monster. Avarice Dragon is a level two, and both of my dragons were at least level four."

Peque shrugged, and placed a single facedown card into his Duel Disk, "Whatever, that hardly interrupts my plans. I figured you would summon a monster on your next turn anyways, but those two on your field were annoying me with their effects."

Kevin ignored the comment, instead he drew and looked over the options provided by the six cards in his hand. He smirked, and placed the card he had drawn on his Duel Disk next to the Avarice Dragon. Another dragon, this one with blood red and bone-white scales and a mask over its face that was also white, appeared in front of him. "I summon Masked Dragon (1400/1100)," he declared, "but he won't be staying around long, as I play Sacrifice and Revive. This lets me summon monsters on my field whose combined levels are equal to or higher than that of a monster in my graveyard, and then summon that monster." His monsters suddenly burst apart, replaced by orbs of light that merged together. The combined mass then took shape, and solidified into the form of Death Volstargaf (2200/1700). "Four plus two is six, so I was just able to meet the requirements," Kevin stated, "of course, Avarice Dragon went to my graveyard again, so I draw two cards." Once more, he was left with six cards in his hand.

Peque simply sighed as Kevin looked at the two new cards, and put his right elbow in his left palm, and rested his head in his right palm. "How very exciting. Can you finish up, please?"

"Just shut up and let me kick your ass," Kevin replied simply, sliding both of his drawn cards into his Duel Disk, "I set a card facedown and play Dragon Lord Call, which can only be activated if a high-level dragon or the Lord of Dragons is face-up on my field. I can now summon two dragons from my graveyard!" As he spoke, the familiar forms of his Sapphire Dragon (1900/1600) and Magma the Hellfire Ryu (1600/1500) emerged on either side of the Death Volstargaf, giving both duelists the same number of monsters. "Without a Moke Moke to worry about, the order of my attacks doesn't matter anymore, so I'll just declare an all-out assault!" The three dragons let their jaws slack open, and breathed out a triad of breath attacks that shot towards Peque's Ojamas. Unexpectedly, the three monsters suddenly jumped up from their positions and ran in random directions about the field, occasionally including between the legs of both duelists and Kevin's dragons. "What's going on?" Kevin demanded in surprise.

"My trap is going on," Peque replied simply, pointing to his previously facedown card. As he explained, his three monsters continued to run about, screaming, "Ojamaniacs negates one attack and ends the battle phase, but requires all three members of the Ojama trio to be on the field. After this effect has resolved, I draw one card for every monster on my opponent's field that is in attack mode." He slid three cards into his hand, giving him four total, and finally the three Ojamas ran into each other, causing them to fall over in their original positions.

"Fucking hell…" Kevin cursed under his breath, frustrated with being unable to break through Peque's defenses, "I end my turn."

"Of course you do," Peque slightly acknowledged, now with five cards in his hand to work with, "I switch my monsters to attack mode and play Ojama Omega Cyclone! This lets my monsters attack together with four thousand attack power (4000/1000)!" The three monsters on his field yelled gleefully, and took up formation again, spinning violently and causing a vortex of concentrated energy to pick up around them. The twister sped towards Magma, with enough strength to end the duel immediately.

Kevin, however, was not ready to concede the contest just yet. "I activate Hallowed Life Barrier!" he cried, the trap flipping up as the twister ripped his dragon apart. "By discarding one card from my hand, I can negate all damage to my life points this turn."

Peque scowled, upset that his attempts were being constantly foiled by such simple traps. "Very well then, I set a card facedown before ending my turn."

Kevin drew, and played his drawn card immediately. "Reparations lets both players discard up to three cards from their hands. For each card we discard, we can then draw a new card." He exchanged three cards from his hand, which had been useless to him for the past several turns. Meanwhile, Peque traded out only two of the three cards in his hand for new ones. Kevin smirked, much happier with his new cards than the ones he had discarded in order to accumulate them. "I set a card facedown, and then summon Plasma the Starlight Ryu (1800/1100)," he declared, the new dragon appeared alongside those already before him. This one stood on two feet, much like the Sapphire Dragon, but its scales were a dimly glowing buff shade.

Kevin took a deep breath, silently praying that he would finally be able to finish off Peque. "Sapphire Dragon and Plasma attack!" The weaker two of his dragons responded by letting out bursts of blue and gold energy, vaporizing the yellow and black members of the Ojama trio. Kevin made his next declaration without pausing, "Plasma's ability allows it to attack once again after destroying a monster, at half its base attack points (900/1100)!" One more bright burst of energy later, and Peque's field was left completely clear of monsters. "And now for the kill! Go, Death Volstargaf!" The large, dark-scaled dragon unleashed a wave of black flame, which washed over Peque, completely obscuring him from view.

A few moments of silence passed, as smoke kicked up as a result of the dragon's assault. "Is it over?" mused Yami.

"Of course not," Peque replied, waving his arms to clear away the smoke, "I activated my own facedown Hallowed Life Barrier. Spirit Barrier of course protected me from any other damage, so I didn't bother activating it until you attacked directly. Unfortunately, my monsters are lost." He flipped one of the cards in his hand around for Kevin to see it, "However, I discard Ojamagic to fulfill the cost of Hallowed Life Barrier. When this spell is discarded, I can add another set of the Ojamas from my deck to my hand." He held up an open hand to his deck, which spat out three cards at him.

Kevin narrowed his eyes, but said nothing. He simply relaxed his posture, indicating he had no other actions to make for the turn.

Peque took a moment to take a deep breath, and drew. Upon the sight of the card, he smirked. "It would seem that your efforts have been in vain, boy," he commented, sliding the card into his Duel Disk, "I activate Ojamovement, which now summons the full set of Ojama monsters from my hand."

"Shit," Kevin muttered, as all three of the monsters, Green (0/1000), Yellow (0/1000), and Black (0/1000) came into existence in front of Peque. "How many more of these things do I have to kill before he runs out?"

"Oh, be quiet," shot Peque, "there's no way you can defeat me now that I'm in full momentum, even with that precious Blue Eyes of yours." He slid the last card in his hand into his Duel Disk, "I activate Temporal Disruption! This destroys all monsters on the field and then lets each player draw one card for each monster they lose!" His three monsters suddenly spun around to look at him with panicked looks on their faces, but before they could protest they suddenly exploded, along with Kevin's three dragons. The young duelist could do nothing but watch and grimace, as the field was cleared and both duelists drew three cards. As Peque drew, Yami suddenly noticed a pulse of power come from the cards in the man's hand.

"No…" the pharaoh stated, denying what he had just felt, "it couldn't be…"

Peque smirked at the card that had pulsed with power, and pressed a button on his Duel Disk, opening the field card zone. "Your fate is completely sealed now, Hunter! Although I never expected to have to use it against you, your stubborn nature has forced me into it!" A green ring exploded outwards from his body as the slot slid closed, his card in place. The ring expanded outwards, encompassing the entire field and thrusting a stunned Yami out of the way. As the six-pointed star formed across the field and on his forehead, Peque grinned in a feral manner, his eyes now faintly glowing red. "Welcome to the Seal of Orichalcos! This field card cannot be destroyed or negated and prevents either player from leaving the arena until the duel has been decided. In addition to providing me with various benefits, the loser shall also be forced to forfeit their soul. Not that I wouldn't have just poured my power into my monsters when they struck the final blow so that you would have died anyways, but it just makes things a bit less messy." He played one of the two remaining cards in his hand, "Pot of Greed." Without bothering to explain, he drew twice more, before playing another card. His life points began to tick down again, "I play Ojamandala, paying a thousand life points to summon one entire set from my graveyard (Peque LP: 1200)." The three monsters appeared on the field with a flourish, and struck a group pose as the same symbol upon Peque's head appeared on theirs as well. "The Seal makes all my monsters become of the dark attribute, and gives them an additional five hundred attack points (500/1000 x 3)! So now, my little stage performing buffoons, strike the weakling down!" The three complied immediately, hopping towards Kevin with their frail hands held like claws as they attacked. Kevin stared the three monsters down as they flew towards him…and then suddenly crashed into a circular piece of metal floating in mid-air.

"I activate the quick-play spell version of Hallowed Life Barrier," Kevin stated, as the Ojamas slid off the shield and collapsed to the ground just in front of it, "Guard of Card protects my life points at the cost of one card in my hand." He discarded one of the four cards in his hand into his graveyard, and the shield before him broke apart.

Peque looked down at his Ojama monsters in slight disappointment as they trudged back to his field, but did not react much more. "Very well then," he submitted, setting a single card facedown before playing another card, "I play Polymerization." The faces of his three monsters lit up, and they jumped ten feet straight into the air, where they were pulled into a vortex that merged them together. "I fuse Ojamas Green, Yellow, and Black," Peque stated, as the vortex deposited a very large, fat white Ojama with a green cape, two eyes on stalks, and two pairs of briefs, one stretched over his head, "to create Ojama King (0/3000) (500/3000) in defense mode! And while he exists on the field, I can select up to two of my opponent's monster zones." The Ojama King suddenly pulled out a large stamp, the size of his body, and used it to stamp the two outer monster zones on Kevin's field. "As long as Ojama King remains on the field, those zones cannot be used to summon monsters. Also, when Ojama King is summoned, I may add this card to my hand from my deck," His deck spat another card into his hand, "However, I choose not to play it just yet. With that done, I end my turn."

Kevin blinked as he drew, uncertain as to why Peque would only prevent him from using two of his monster zones. He shrugged, and began to place a monster on his Duel Disk. "I summon-"

"Not quite," interrupted Peque, as his facedown card flipped up, "I activate the trap card Ojama Trio, which now summons token versions of the real Ojama cards to your field in defense mode (0/1000 x3)." Kevin gasped in surprise as the three monsters appeared in front of him, lounging about as they occupied his monster zones.

Kevin grimaced as he picked up the monster he had been about to summon, and looked over the other cards in his hand. He slid two other cards into his Duel Disk, and declared while ignoring the taunts of the tokens in front of him, "I set two cards facedown and end my turn."

Peque had a confident look on his face as he drew, giving him just that one card besides the one he had added to his hand upon summoning Ojama King on his last turn. "I activate the card I added to my hand last turn. It's called Change! Mecha Ojama King, and it allows me to exchange Ojama King for the Mecha Ojama King in my deck!" The Ojama King suddenly flashed momentarily, blinding both duelists as well as Yami. When the light faded, the Ojama King had been replaced by a mechanical copy, whose body was slightly angular due to its metallic shell (0/3000) (500/3000). "Now I activate the effect of a card in my deck, which can only be activated when I summon Mecha Ojama King has been summoned," as he spoke, a card slid out of his deck and floated in mid-air momentarily before he explained, "Change! Mecha Ojama Modification now causes Mecha Ojama King to be treated as being named Ojama King."

"That…that doesn't make any sense at all," Kevin stated, thoroughly confused now, "why would you sacrifice one monster to summon another with the exact same attack and defense strengths, and the exact same name? And besides that…" he motioned to his outer two monster zones, which were no longer stamped, "Ojama King isn't really on the field anymore, so now I can summon monsters."

Peque chuckled at his comments, as suddenly his mechanical monster opened its large mouth and spat out what looked like a mechanical version of Ojama Green. "Because, you idiotic bitch," he said, "once per turn Mecha Ojama King summons one Ojamachine from my deck, such as this Ojamachine Green (0/1000) (500/1000)." The Ojamachine landed crouching like a frog to the left of his Mecha Ojama King, and then opened its mouth, causing another Ojamachine Green to leap out of it. Then that machine opened its mouth, causing a third to come out, and then the third spat out a fourth. Kevin looked on in shock as Peque explained, "Upon being summoned, each Ojamachine can summon a token with the exact same name, strength, and effect. That includes the ability to reproduce tokens, so in theory I could summon another two due to the Seal's ability. However, I'm going to need to use my Spell and Trap zones after this, so I can't crowd them up. For now, four will do." He slid the final card in his hand into his Duel Disk, "In fact, four is overkill. I play Ojamuscle, which destroys all Ojama monsters on the field! And when those Ojama tokens on your field are destroyed, you take three hundred damage for each one!"

"You think I don't know that?" Kevin responded, smirking back at his opponent, "Ojama Trio's an old card, I'm familiar with its effect. That's why I prepared with my facedown card." The card he motioned to flipped up, and immediately a large black wok appeared under the green token, flipping it up into the air several times before disappearing along with the creature. "I sacrifice one token, meaning it's not destroyed and I take no damage, and also gain its defense as life points." He barely managed to finish his explanation before the two tokens in front of him as well as the four smaller Ojamachines on Peque's field exploded, knocking him backwards (Kevin LP: 1300).

"A disappointment," Peque muttered with a frown, "but nothing else. For each monster destroyed by Ojamuscle's effect, I increase the attack strength of Ojama King, or in this case Mecha Ojama King, by one thousand points (6500/3000)!" The metal arms on the king suddenly grew larger, expanding and growing more powerful. The red glow in its eyes also intensified, and it glared at Kevin. "Do you see now, the real difference between you and I?" Peque said with a smirk, "Mecha Ojama King had zero attack points when I initially summoned him, but with my influence he has grown more than twice as strong as your pathetic dragon!"

Kevin bit his lip, and glanced at one of the cards in his hand. A single, bright blue eye stared back at him, expressionlessly. He looked up from the card, and matched Peque's gaze, glaring daggers at the short but powerful man. "It doesn't matter," he asserted loudly, "I don't care how powerful you can make your monsters. I'll work together with my dragons, and we'll make your minions look weak again in comparison!"

"You still hold on to such fucking idiotic ideas," Peque responded, as he jerked four cards off the top of his deck, replenishing his hand, "when Ojamachine Green is destroyed I may draw one card, so with the destruction of four machines I draw four cards. And now you will die!" He punched his fist forward with great force, actually sending out a slight shock wave with the motion and knocking Kevin off-balance. "Mecha Ojama King, attack directly!" The immense machine stomped over, bearing down on Kevin and hauling back a large metal fist while its target was still slightly stunned.

"Cheap tricks won't work against me, you bastard!" Kevin yelled, managing to depress a button on his Duel Disk before the machine could launch its fist, "I activate Call of the Haunted, summoning Masked Dragon (1400/1100) in defense mode!" The red and white dragon clawed its way out of the ground, then wrapped its wide wings about itself defensively in preparation.

"It doesn't matter!" Peque screamed, "I'll crush it and you'll be left defenseless for my next turn!" Mecha Ojama King brought its limb down hard on the dragon, shattering its body and crushing it into the ground below it. The ground actually broke apart from the impact, leaving the Masked Dragon's corpse somewhat buried under it before it vanished.

"Now you're the one who needs to learn about cards and their effects," Kevin stated, as a new dragon took the previous one's place. "When Masked Dragon is killed in battle, I can summon another dragon from my deck with fifteen hundred or less attack points. I summon Surge the Torrential Ryu (1500/1500) in defense mode!" This dragon was much more like an Asian dragon than Kevin's previous monsters, and had ocean-blue scales that shimmered as if they were wet. Its golden eyes contrasted sharply against its scales. "And my monster cannot be destroyed in battle by a monster with nineteen hundred or more attack points, so I'll be plenty safe next turn."

"Fucking hell!" Peque yelled, the hands clutching his cards now trembling. It seemed that his demeanor was growing unstable as he exerted more effort into the duel. He paused to take several deep breaths, and then slid one final card into his Duel Disk, "Ojamuscle's bonus usually only lasts one turn, so I play Sustained Effect, which makes one effect continuous as long as it exists on the field. Your turn."

Kevin took a few shuddering breaths, knowing that now he would have to deal with an extremely powerful monster until he could defeat it or draw a card that destroyed spells or traps. The problem was, the first option would be difficult to carry out, and he had very few cards that could accomplish the latter option. He glanced at one of the two cards in his hand for a few moments, steeling himself. _'I won't place all the weight on you…'_ Determined, he drew the top card of his deck. "I play Cost of Greed!" he declared, his graveyard ejecting four cards into his waiting hand. "This card lets me remove up to four monsters in my graveyard from play. For each one removed, I draw a new card." Without delay, he pocketed the four monsters and swept the four new cards from his deck before looking them over. After a handful of seconds, he smirked confidently. _'It's over…it's finally over…'_ Three new cards appeared in front of him as he deposited cards into his Duel Disk, "One monster and two cards facedown. End turn."

Peque drew, determined to finally crush his opponent. "Ah, this might be helpful," he murmured quietly at his drawn card, which he set facedown. "Just to let you know," he said, more loudly, as he played one of the three cards remaining in his hand, "Renewal of Triplets can summon three copies of the same monster from my graveyard, provided they all exist there. I summon all three Moke Mokes (300/100 x3) (800/100 x3)." The three angels sprung into existence around his Mecha Ojama King, their now-red eyes glaring daggers at Kevin. "And then I activate Thousand Power, granting all level two and lower normal monsters on my field an additional one thousand attack points (1800/100 x3)." Electricity crackled through the bodies of the three Moke Mokes, and they began pumping up with new strength. "My three weaker monsters can now get around that fucking effect of your Torrential Ryu, so now one attacks it!" One of the three tiny angels let out a high-pitched, but fury-filled battle cry as it flew towards Kevin's dragon. The rectangular creature suddenly stopped in its tracks, however, as the Ryu roared back at it. Its roar was far louder, and was so powerful that it drove back the attacking angel, and caused Peque's other three monsters to step back slightly in fear.

"Earlier in the duel, you played Threatening Roar," Kevin stated, pointing at his now face-up trap, "My Dragon's Roar has the same effect, though it requires me to have a dragon on my field when I activate it. Therefore, your monsters cannot touch me this turn."

Peque sneered, and slammed his final card into his Duel Disk, "Fine! I play Gift of the Normal, which sacrifices all monsters on my field of level two and less without effects. I then gain life points equal to their combined attack power." The three powered-up Moke Mokes in front of him deteriorated into flecks of blue light, which were drawn into Peque, replenishing him (Peque LP: 6600). "Thousand Power would have destroyed them at the end of the turn anyways, but at least this way I got something out of it. I suppose you live for now, but I swear in my next turn I will find a way to get around that damn monster and crush you completely!"

Kevin simply smirked to himself as he drew, remembering something he had read a few summers ago for school. "As Hamlet said, 'words, words, words,' " he pointed to his remaining facedown card, which flipped up, "I'll show you that if you want to get, the best way to do it is to stop talking and just fucking do it! My facedown card is Return From the Different Dimension, which costs half of my life points and then summons as many monsters from removed from play pile as possible, though they'll be removed from play again at the end of the turn (Kevin LP: 650)!" He cast an arm out, and immediately a large vortex appeared over his field, depositing three monsters onto his remaining monster zones. "Return, Magma the Hellfire Ryu (1600/1500), Plasma the Starlight Ryu (1800/1100), and Hyozanryu (2100/2800)!"

"Weaklings," Peque stated, "every one of them! And you have not the strength to give them enough power to even be in my presence!"

Kevin ignored him. Instead, he said, "I have gathered the Ryus of fire, water, and light. And this combination spells out your demise!" The three addressed monsters shuddered, bursting into burning red, cool blue, and bright yellow columns of light, which shot into the air, swirling about one another and merging into a single, black path of energy that struck the ground just in front of Kevin. Where it impacted, it exploded upwards in a wave of dark energy. "I sacrifice Magma, Surge, and Plasma to summon this monster from my deck!" Kevin declared, the card falling out of his deck and onto the monster zone of his Duel Disk. The column of black energy began to warp, taking the form of an immense black beast whose wings overshadowed the entire field. "Wraith the Shadow Ryu (2900/2800)!" Upon hearing its name declared, the immense black creature let out a roar of challenge, this one infinitely more frightening that the one let out by one of its components only a turn ago.

Peque stepped back several feet, but then recovered himself as he looked past the intimidating holographic representation of the card. He chuckled, and commented, "Three specific monsters sacrificed to summon something weaker than the Blue Eyes White Dragon? You make me laugh with your pathetic efforts."

"My efforts are far from done, jackass," Kevin stated, his eyes seeming to burn with an internal flame, "I sacrifice my facedown monster in order to summon Emerald Dragon (2400/1500) from my hand." His facedown monster vanished, and was replaced by a crystalline dragon, about the same size as the Hyozanryu alongside it, but with smooth, reflective green scales rather than its counterpart's sharp scales. "To finish up my army of dragons, I play Pyre, which lets me discard cards from my hand and summon an equal number of dragons from my graveyard," he finished, dropping his hand size down to three cards. As he did so, a pillar of bright orange flame shot up from the ground, and when it cleared, his Death Volstargaf (2200/1700) was left in its place. "When a spell card is played, Wraith gains three hundred attack points until the end of the turn (3200/2800)," Kevin stated, motioning to the large dragon, which let out another ear-splitting roar in acknowledgement.

"That's it?" Peque asked in bewilderment, looking at the four intimidating but nevertheless too-weak dragons staring down his Mecha Ojama King. "You put all that effort into summoning so many monsters, and you can't make one even half as strong as mine?" He smirked, feeling extremely superior, "It seems that once again you are relying on your cards' strength, rather than your own, and because of that, you are about to lose."

"Don't count Kevin out just yet, Peque," Yami remarked. The man twitched to look at the pharaoh, who was smirking, "he said he was done summoning his army of dragons, but that doesn't mean he's done with his turn. Or had you overlooked the fact that there are still three cards left in his hand." Peque jerked his head back to Kevin, who sure enough was playing a spell from his hand (Wraith: 3500/2800, Death Volstargaf: 2400/1700).

Peque's eyes widened in fear as Kevin's dragons became surrounded by identical golden auras, which connected, each feeding power into a single target-Wraith the Shadow Ryu, who was growing more and more massive from being fed such a great amount of power. "You said I couldn't make my monsters strong, Peque," said Kevin with a grin, as his insanely large Shadow Ryu was forced to tuck in its wings so that it would fit within the boundaries of the Seal of Orichalcos. "What do you think now? My dragons and I have combined our efforts together, and with Wraith equipped with United We Stand (6700/6000)…" he pointed at Mecha Ojama King, and Wraith the Shadow Ryu reacted by letting out an immense breath of fire at the machine, "we have exceeded even your greatest efforts!"

Peque pressed a button on his Duel Disk, and his card flipped up as he screamed, "Don't make such moronic assumptions, you bitch! My Mirror Force now destroys all your monsters and makes your attempts to work with your dragons all for nothing!" A barrier sprung up in front of his Mecha Ojama King, holding back the blast of fire and causing it to splash backwards. The barrier pushed against the attack, driving it backwards and preparing to reflect back at all of Kevin's monsters…and then Wraith opened its jaws even wire, causing more flame to flow from its body into the reflective shield, shattering it. Peque's eyes widened in shock, "Wh-what? How?"

Kevin discarded one of the two cards left in his hand, "Wraith the Shadow Ryu lets me negate and destroy trap cards by discarding one card from my hand each." Wraith's flames swept over the Mecha Ojama King, causing the robot to melt in a fraction of a second (Peque LP: 6400). The force of the blast sent Peque flying backwards, causing him to collide with the wall of the Seal behind him and then fall to the ground.

"This…this cannot be happening…" Peque protested, eyes wide with fear, "I had the Seal…I was at my greatest…how can this be happening? I'm stronger! I CAN'T LOSE TO YOU!"

Kevin glared at Peque's frightened face, matching the expression with an unforgiving one, "You just did." Then his other three dragons opened their mouths and let loose their own attacks, completely consuming the small man (Peque LP: 0). The duel ended, Kevin let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding, and looked down at the single card remaining in his hand as his monsters faded away and the Seal closed around Peque's body. _'Blue Eyes White Dragon…from now on, I won't make you win my battles for me. From now on…we fight as partners…'_

The shadows faded, leaving them in the second-floor hallway of Kevin's house. Outside, he and Yami could hear the wail of approaching sirens, coming to answer the alarm that was still sounding below. Yami approached Kevin, and gave the shortest explanation he could. "The dark force we met at the tournament six months ago is trying to unleash an evil force to destroy the world, and you're one of the six people we need to stop it. Will you come with me?"

Kevin absorbed this information for a few seconds with a somewhat confused expression on his face. But soon he snapped back to reality, and nodded. "Yeah, looks like I'm involved already, so why not? Just…let me grab something…" He ran back into his room, and after a few seconds emerged clutching several shirts in his left hand. "Something tells me I won't be very comfortable as I am. Now, let's get going."

Yami nodded, and held up the glowing golden bull icon. "I believe this is for you." Wordlessly, Kevin accepted the bull, which flashed momentarily before its light completely faded. "Now, just hold on," he continued, offering his hand to Kevin, who accepted it, "and please…aim for a bucket, or something."

Kevin didn't hear the instruction, as he was busy reflecting on the damage Peque had done to his house upon entry. _'It's going to be reeeeeeeeeally hard explaining this to my parents…'_ was his final thought before he and Yami vanished in a flash of light, bound for Japan.

* * *

Author's Notes: It's weird. Over the past three chapters, there's been a correlation between the length of the duel and the length of the chapter. Which isn't too weird in and of itself. However, the correlation has been reversed. The longer the duel has been, the shorter the word count for the chapter. Chapter three had thirty-four turns and just under eleven thousand words, chapter two had twenty-eight turns and over twelve thousand words, and this chapter had just twenty-four turns, but a personal record of thirteen thousand, two hundred twenty-five words. Maybe it's because Yami talks a whole fucking lot…

Kevin Hunter was created by Blue-Eyes White Knight, for those few of you who haven't seen his character in some Yu-Gi-Oh fanfiction somewhere.

Original cards this chapter:

Card by Me: Ominous Foresight, Divine Punishment, Late Delivery, Reverse Sacrifice, Gift of the Fallen, Final Gambit, Remembering the Normal, Life Force Devourer, Dragon's Descent, Ojamaniacs, Ojama Omega Cyclone, Ojamovement, Change! Mecha Ojama Modification, Dragon's Roar

Cards by Seeker of the Soul: Repayment of Losses, Temporal Disruption, Ojamachine Green, Renewal of Triplets

Cards by Time Mage: Taxation of Soul, Avarice Dragon, Magma the Hellfire Ryu, Half Dead, Sacrifice and Revive, Dragon Lord Call, Reparations, Plasma the Starlight Ryu, Surge the Torrential Ryu, Cost of Greed, Wraith the Shadow Ryu, Pyre

_The gathering of the forces of good is half-complete, but at the same time far from done. On the other side of the world, Kaiba encounters the fourth protector just in time to witness the arrival of another member of Todaku's forces. Will the protector prevail, or be crushed by the might of their foe's various and powerful monsters?_

_Next Time: Matter of Business_


	6. Matter of Business

For disclaimer, see the beginning of this story. Bastard.

New pre-chapter feature: "When I become world dictator…", because we all know it's going to happen some day. And by that I mean "I know it's going to happen some day, and if you get on my good side now I just might think about letting you live when it does happen." Anyways, I'm going to just be discussing the changes I'll be making when the day arrives. So, let the warnings begin!

When I become world dictator, the workers and owners of 4Kids will be rounded up to be used for my personal entertainment purposes. Activities involving said persons will include crowding around a shotgun-wielding vice president, swimming in boiling blood (policy is Bring Your Own Blood), and lots of things ending in "-ation".

With that said, I would now like to wish a (late) happy birthday to Time Mage, whom this chapter is dedicated to. So, let's get this baby started!

**Beneath the Surface**  
**by G.O.T. Nick**

**Chapter Five: Matter of Business**

In a dimly lit room, Todaku reclined in his armchair, holding a glass of wine lightly in his left hand. His eyes shifted between a series of images he had summoned before him, depicting images of the three remaining followers he had sent out, as well as Kaiba, Joey, and Nick. "I find it amazing," he said aloud, "what lengths you humans will go to when given a bit of incentive."

"Yes, my lord," an answer came from behind the black-haired mastermind. The words were spoken by a crouching figure with a bowed head, who had been in that position since arriving in the room some time ago.

"Our enemies are opposing us because they want to live," Todaku continued, sipping his wine, "that's to be expected. All living things are naturally inclined to attempt to survive. But every human that I have recruited thus far did not do so because they wanted to live. No, that would have been a foolish and ironic decision. They pledged their loyalties for some of the strangest reasons… Most of them for money and power." He snorted, "What is this fascination humans have with money?"

"I do not know, my lord," came the reply.

"It is a ridiculous concept," Todaku carried on, "gold and silver and diamond…they serve no other purpose than to look pretty. The reason money exists is because some worthless piece of shit was too lazy one day to exchange anything of real value to pay a favor, so he gave them some shiny rocks and said they could be traded for something else." He took another sip of wine, "The truth of money is that those who have the most of it are just as poor as anyone else, but the rest of the world is moronic enough to think that they have power." He took a deep breath, and closed his eyes, waiting for the images in front of him to display the three remaining targets. "Some of the others agreed to fight for me for even more ridiculous reasons. Wisdom, knowledge…" he spat out the last one, "Love…"

"…" Todaku's underling paused, pondering how best to reply. "Humans are…complicated beings. We have many needs, but also many desires. In modern times, desires are typically addressed more quickly than necessities. It is simply the way the world works nowadays. And, if I may be so bold…rich wine is not generally considered a necessity…"

Todaku smirked, and took a sip of his drink before replying. "You have me there," he threw back his head and gulped down the rest of his glass. "But for some reason, it just feels right. Secretly observing my enemies…relaxing in an armchair…drinking expensive alcoholic drinks…it just seems to fit the niche, if you understand me."

"There are many things about you that I cannot hope to comprehend, my lord."

Todaku smirked, and sat back further in his chair as he watched Kaiba's jet descend. "Yes, that part feels right too."

XtXhXiXsX XsXuXcXkXsX XwXhXyX XcXaXnX'XtX XIX XuXsXeX XlXiXnXeXsX XaXnXyXmXoXrXe?X

There are many advantages to owning a private jet that is the size of a helicopter. For one thing, you can go pretty much anywhere very quickly. In fact, if it had not been for Shaun's head start, Kaiba would have been the first to reach his destination through non-magical means. But Seto Kaiba, teenage billionaire owner of Kaiba Corp., was not thinking about these things as he and his younger brother Mokuba descended in his blue and white, dragon-shaped jet towards their destination on the large Japanese island of Shikoku. Instead, his attention was focused on the pendant attached to his white trench coat that was gradually growing brighter and brighter as the jet lowered itself to the ground. _'Weird design,'_ he thought to himself as he gazed upon the emblem of a pair of snakes, curling around each other. Then he turned his attention to the area outside his jet, where a crowd was beginning in the large, open field. Rather than attempting to find a landing pad, Kaiba had decided to just land while they were as close as possible to whoever it was they were trying to find.

As soon as the dragon-shaped jet touched down, Kaiba opened up the hatch, removed his headset, and leapt nimbly from the cockpit. Behind him, Mokuba slowly followed suit. "Alright, let's get this over with as soon as possible," Kaiba muttered to himself, unclipping the trinket from his coat and extended it away from his body. He experimentally moved his arm to the left and right, until he found the direction in which the icon glowed brightest, and walked that way. Kaiba found that his luck that day happened to be very good.

"Seto Kaiba?" questioned a vaguely familiar voice, spoken by a boy in his late teenage years that stood directly in Kaiba's path after the billionaire took only half a dozen steps. "What are you doing here?"

Kaiba narrowed his cold blue eyes at the person. He recognized the speaker vaguely, but couldn't recall from where or when. A quick glance at the device on the teen's wrist indicated that he was a duelist, and the pendant in Kaiba's hand was glowing to the extent that it was almost blinding. "You," he addressed the teen sharply, after a few seconds of unsuccessfully trying to remember his name, "take this for a second." Then he thrust the golden intertwined serpents into the other man's hand, causing the object to pulse momentarily, then grow dull. Kaiba grinned, very slightly, "Alright, time to go. Now I can stop wasting time with this bull shit and get back to my work…"

"Wait, what?" the black-haired teen blurted out, as Kaiba motioned for him to follow, "Go? Where? Why? What-?" And then he turned around when he felt a hand clap over his shoulder.

"Hello," greeted a man with a grin, "nice to meet you. What's your name?"

The teen, thoroughly confused already by the sudden recent occurrences, blinked his one blue and one brown eye several rapid times, and blurted out, "Kai Kaethen…Um…can I help you?"

"Actually, yes," said the man, still grinning, "first thing, get a haircut." He gestured towards Kai's black dragon-tail, which was hanging over his shoulder. Kai frowned for a minute, and flicked the hair over his shoulder. "But anyways, I'm trying to start up my own company, and I would very much appreciate it if you would make a contribution to help give me the jump start."

"Uh…" Kai blinked and quirked an eyebrow, "you mean, like a donation?"

The man smirked in response, "In a manner."

Kaiba rolled his eyes, turned, and walked back to Kai. "I don't have time to listen to worms like you beg for good will," he said sharply to the man next to Kai, "so get out of my sight before I have to make you see why you don't deserve to be in my presence."

The man simply smirked back at Kaiba, and adjusted the white tie of his otherwise completely black business suit. "Sorry, but I'm afraid you'll just have to wait, Mr. Kaiba," he said calmly, and suddenly a black mass of some kind of energy shot out of his arm, encompassing he, Kai, and Kaiba in a dome of black shadows.

Kaiba's eyes widened and he spun around in time to see the curtain of shadows fall just before his younger brother could jump under them. "Damn it!" he yelled, "Mokuba!"

"Oh, how unfortunate," the man said with a smirk, "you have emotions too. Aren't they bothersome? Especially when someone separates you from something you care about very deeply. The feeling must be very painful…"

"What do you want?" Kai cut the man off suddenly, and he slowly backed away to grant him a bit of distance from the suited man.

"Now now, my boy," the man replied lightheartedly with a wave of his hand, "introductions first. Didn't your mother ever teach you to always introduce yourself when you meet a person for the first time?" A thought seemed to strike him just then, and he appeared to look at something off in the distance for a moment before turning his attention back to his audience, "Well, I suppose you did introduce yourself, it was just me who didn't. How rude of me…" He cleared his throat, and ran a hand through his slick silver hair and dusted off his suit for a few seconds before continuing, "My name is Nobuyuki Sono. I believe we've met in the past, Seto Kaiba."

Kaiba quirked an eyebrow for a moment, "Have we? I don't recall."

Nobuyuki sniffed sharply, "I should've expected this. Feh, it doesn't matter now, anyways. It's a stroke of luck for me that you happened to show up instead of someone else. Now I can accomplish my short-term and long-term goals all in one day." He turned his attention to focus on Kai again. "Boy," he said sharply.

Kai sneered back at Nobuyuki, "It's Kai."

"Whatever," Nobuyuki said with a dismissive tone. Then he held out his left arm, which became encompassed in a black aura that morphed and shaped itself into a Duel Disk that was jet black in color yet was so lustrous that it had a highly reflective surface. The Life Point counter lit up, displaying Nobuyuki's starting total in bright green numbers (Nobuyuki LP: 4000). "You wear a Duel Disk, so you must play the game," Nobuyuki expounded, "so let's get this over with." With that, he drew five cards in one swift motion, then stood with his arms crossed, waiting for Kai to respond.

And respond Kai did, by activating his own, normal Duel Disk and sliding his deck into its respective slot while the Life Point counter ticked upwards (Kai LP: 4000). "I draw," Kai announced, swiping six cards from the top of his deck to start his turn. "I begin by summoning Breaker the Magical Warrior (1600/1000)!" Immediately, the well-known mage stepped onto the field in front of Kai, covered in deep red armor with gold lining and bearing a sword in his right hand and an ornate shield in the right. "When Breaker is Normal Summoned, he gains a spell counter, which grants him three hundred extra attack points," Kai stated, even as his spell caster's attack rose (1900/1000). "I then set three cards facedown," he concluded, more than half of his hand disappearing into his Duel Disk, "End turn."

'_Odd…'_ Kaiba thought to himself, _'I've seen Breaker's holographic image before, but…this seems far more realistic…'_

Nobuyuki smirked as he drew, fingering one of the other cards in his starting hand. "Breaker?" he questioned, half-addressing himself, "a good card to spring after the opponent has set a card hoping to defend themselves, but hardly a good choice for a starting move." When he noticed that Kai wasn't paying heed to what he was saying, he frowned and continued, "I activate Cheap Production. This card allows me to discard any number of cards from my hand and summon that many Machines whose levels are four or under from my hand to the field. So here come two of my Cyber Soldiers (2500/2500 x2)!" As he slipped three cards into his graveyard, two of the other cards from his hand landed on his Duel Disk, and a pair of humanoid robots covered in shimmering white plating appeared in front of him.

"Twenty-five hundred attack points?" Kai exclaimed in shock, as the pair of androids turned their heads to look at his weaker Breaker.

"Yes," Nobuyuki replied, offhandedly, "but each Cyber Soldier loses five hundred attack and defense for each card in my hand (2000/2000 x2). Don't worry though, the Machines summoned with Cheap Production cannot attack the turn they are summoned…Oh, unless I activate Quick Attack from my hand. That would change things, wouldn't it (Cyber Soldiers: 2500/2500 x2)?" The last card in Nobuyuki's hand suddenly disappeared into his graveyard, and both his creatures roared towards Kai's field. The first clamped its hands over Breaker's body, then suddenly sent a stream of electricity through the mage so intense that it killed him instantly. The other ran forward, and reached for Kai as well.

'_Something's wrong,'_ Kaiba almost jumped in surprise when he heard the words, but then realized that they were from his own thoughts, _'Kaiba Corps. has never invented anything so realistic…it's almost as if…'_ His eyes widened, and suddenly he shouted, "Kaethen! Get out of the way!"

Kai, however, had already experienced the Duel Disk's ability to provide realistic impact when a powerful blow landed directly. He didn't hesitate to duck as Nobuyuki's remaining Cyber Soldier swung a large metal fist over his head (Kai LP: 900).

"Most impressive, Mr. Kaiba," Nobuyuki stated, applauding slightly as his mechanical soldiers returned to his field, "you're obviously an expert on your own products to have noticed the added realism our battleground provides to this duel."

"It's not just because of that," Kaiba rebuked, "I've already experienced this crap before, and every single time you idiots pull the same redundant trick. Making the duel more realistic, and then saying if you lose your soul is taken. Really, everyone who tries to launch an evil plot must attend some sort of Wannabe Villain's Convention. That's the only way to explain why no one can come up with an original idea."

Kai narrowed his eyes at Nobuyuki, "I see. It's the same as the tournament in Tokyo. Everything's real now. It's no longer a game, it's a battle, just like it's supposed to represent."

"Yes yes yes," Nobuyuki said quickly with a wave of his hand, "please just take your move already. Now that we've gotten the big revelation out of the way, we can move on to the good stuff."

"That's fine with me," Kai complied, snapping a card from the top of his deck. "I summon Life Breaker (1600 + 300/1000), who gains a counter just like his fellow Breaker." Another mage, almost identical in appearance to Breaker the Magical Warrior except with burgundy armor instead of pure red, appeared as he spoke, wielding the same sword and shield as its predecessor.

"Hm…" mused Nobuyuki, chin in hand, "'fellow Breaker,' you say? Does that mean that there are even more Breakers besides these last two?"

"That's exactly right," replied Kai, "now, I activate Life Breaker's effect! By sacrificing his counter, I can deal you 200 damage times the level of your strongest monster!" Life Breaker's (1600/1000) sword began to glow the same shade as its armor, and the mage fighter swung its blade in an elegant arc, sending a burst of burgundy-shaded energy shooting through one of Nobuyuki's Cyber Soldiers and then into the duelist himself (Nobuyuki LP: 3200).

Nobuyuki snarled, and ripped off his charred and ruined tie. "Lucky hit, and you've left a weak monster in play. I'll soon make you pay for ruining my best suit!"

"If you want to make me pay," Kai stated, setting a fourth card facedown, "come and make me."

Nobuyuki snapped a card from his Duel Disk, giving him just that one card in hand. His Cyber Soldiers temporarily lost attack points, but that was fixed immediately when he slid the drawn card into his Duel Disk, and two large machines with broad, bat-like wings shimmered into play flanking the two stronger machines. "I pay one thousand Life Points (Nobuyuki LP: 2200) to play Bonds of Brothers, summoning two level four or lower monsters of the same type as any I already have in play. My choices are two Cyber Demons (1000/2000 x2) in defense mode." The left corner of his mouth then quirked up a bit, "Of course, they're probably not necessary, but getting the last card out of my hand does make my Cyber Soldiers as strong as possible. So with that said, Cyber Soldier attacks!" One of his two mechanical soldiers leapt into action, and raced towards Life Breaker with its arm poised to strike.

"Activate facedown card," Kai replied immediately, one of his set cards flipping up and striking the charging soldier with a bolt of lightning. The soldier struggled for a fraction of a second against the blast of electricity, then exploded in a burst of molten metal and circuitry. "Blitz Counterattack destroys one attack monster and lets me draw a card," he added a second card to his hand from his deck, "however, I have to pay 500 Life Points (Kai LP: 400)."

Nobuyuki simply shrugged, as his second machine began to trudge forward, "The other Cyber Soldier will finish it, then."

"Don't be so hasty," Kai countered, pointing at one of his remaining set cards, "I activate Emergency Provisions, sacrificing Blitz Counterattack while it's still on my field, along with two facedown cards, to gain 1000 Life Points for each card sacrificed." Blitz Counterattack and the indicated set cards shattered, bathing Kai in a blue glow and leaving him a clear field (Kai LP: 3400). "One of my facedown cards was Repayment of Losses," Kai continued, "since it was sent to the graveyard, I draw one more card."

Nobuyuki scowled, "Impressive." Even so, his one remaining Cyber Soldier quickly lunged forth and fired a bolt of energy from its palm at Life Breaker, destroying the mage instantly (Kai LP: 2500).

Kai narrowed his eyes at Nobuyuki as he drew a fourth card, and looked his hand over. "You've got a very strange strategy," he commented as he mentally went over his available moves.

Nobuyuki grinned, "What, because I'm not preserving my hand or setting up defenses with facedown cards? Don't underestimate me, boy, I can easily crush you without attempting to coincide with your ideas that preserving resources leads to victory."

"We'll see," Kai muttered, before announcing his next move, "I summon Monster Breaker (1600 + 300/1000)."

Kaiba's eyes narrowed as he observed the entrance of Kai's latest Breaker, this one having black armor. _'It seems that this guy's changed his deck strategy a bit since the Tokyo Tournament. I never saw him even use the original Breaker, but now it looks like his entire deck is made up of them… Breaker the Magical Warrior is one of the cards that Yugi has used several times, but it's far from the focus. I remember, though, that the Breakers were given a large amount of support somewhat recently. Is this kid someone who can unlock their full potential?'_

"Monster Breaker's effect is as its name suggests," Kai stated, as his monster's sword became surrounded in a black aura, "I can sacrifice his counter to destroy on monster on the field. And of course, I'm targeting Cyber Soldier!" Monster Breaker swung his sword in a wide arc, launching a burst of black energy that struck Nobuyuki's machine and destroyed it. Nobuyuki merely frowned in response, while Kai smirked in triumph at his small victory, "Since I can't get past either Cyber Demon, I'll just set a card facedown and end my turn."

Nobuyuki drew to begin his turn, then grinned and pointed to his monsters, which were both glowing with a purple aura, "The effect of Cyber Demon activates during my Draw Phase. If, at the start of my Draw Phase, I have no cards in my hand, each Demon lets me draw an additional card," with that, he quickly snapped two more cards from the top of his deck, giving him three total in hand to Kai's two. "I set two of these cards facedown," Nobuyuki quickly decided, placing one card behind each Cyber Demon. Then one of the machines vanished, and a taller, humanoid form was left in its place. The monster seemed similar in appearance to the commonly-played Jinzo, but instead of wearing green it was covered in the same metallic silvery-white plating as all Cyber monsters, and had a scarred blue head with goggled eyes. "Meet Cyber Shocker (2400/1500)," introduced Nobuyuki with gusto, "I sacrificed one of my Cyber Demons to summon him, of course. You should be more familiar with the Psycho Shocker, or Jinzo. These two monsters are very similar, but while Jinzo is easier to use, Cyber Shocker's effect is more refined." He held up his hands and flexed his fingers a few times, indicating that they held no cards, "As long as my hand is empty, Cyber Shocker negates all traps activated by my opponent!"

Kai grimaced, instinctively glancing at the two facedown cards on his field as the Cyber Shocker suddenly emitted a set of purple beams of light from its eyes, striking each of Kai's spell and trap slots, which began glowing the same color. "Cyber Shocker, attack Monster Breaker!" Nobuyuki commanded, and immediately the tall machine complied, forming a ball of black energy in its metallic palms before thrusting it forwards. The sphere struck Kai's mage, immediately engulfing the black-armored Breaker and destroying him. "Cyber Demon, attack directly!" Electricity sparked along the wings of the stockier machine, then cascaded outwards and struck Kai in an immense and painful impact that caused the bi-eyed duelist to scream in pain before collapsing to the ground.

Nobuyuki smirked and crossed his arms over his chest, staring down at his semi-conscious opponent. "I end my turn, boy," he stated, "let's see if you can find the strength to get up and fight back." With that, he suddenly sat down, folding his legs up on the ground, and pulled up the sleeve of his jacket to look at his watch. "Oy, bastard," he said suddenly, calling to Kaiba, "rules are if the opponent can't make a move for five minutes I win, right?"

Kaiba snorted, possibly towards Nobuyuki and possibly towards the unmoving Kai, and said, "Yeah." There was a short period of silence in which neither of them spoke, the quiet being interrupted only by the minute ticks of Nobuyuki's watch. Eventually, Kaiba spoke up again, "What exactly do you have against me? I've made quite a few enemies in the past few years, but I don't remember you being among them."

Nobuyuki grinned a bit, and locked gazes with Kaiba. "I'm not terribly surprised," he said, extremely calm, "we never really met in person. I was a designer at Kaiba Corp. before you took over, little Seto. I was talented, and the job paid well. Of course, then a certain brat decided to take over his father's company. Which was fine, at the beginning, because I didn't care who I worked for so long as I got my paycheck. But then you decided Kaiba Corp. shouldn't make weapons anymore, and should instead focus on gaming." He ran a hand through his hair, and sneered before continuing, "Of course, designing war machines is far different from designing a holographic projector. It was less than a week after you took over before I was let go."

"So this is about vengeance, huh?" Kaiba questioned, though he didn't feel too interested in the subject, "Feh, you're one of thousands of workers that lost their jobs when Kaiba Corp.'s goals changed. Don't be such an idiot, it's how the corporate world works. You fit in the system, or you get thrown out."

Nobuyuki narrowed his eyes, and smirked dangerously. "You're one to talk. I know just how personally you involve yourself when your company is in danger. Don't be such a hypocrite," he paused, "not that it will matter how you act soon enough. Once I'm done here, I'll get my reward. I've been promised the ability of foresight, though only in one limited area. And that area is the stock markets. I'll invest my entire life savings in the stocks, and shift it about so that I make the optimum amount of money. With this ability, it will hardly take any time before you're the one who's cast aside in favor of your new boss's interests."

"You business-types are annoying," mumbled a weak voice. Nobuyuki jerked his head to look at the prone Kai, who was slowly standing up. Nobuyuki's eyes widened as the teen placed a hand on his deck, and drew a card before continuing, "You talk about money like it's the only thing that matters, and you keep on talking about plans for future profits and expansion." (Kai LP: 700). "In case you haven't noticed, this duel isn't over, so that puts a hindrance on your plans, Nobuyuki." He slipped a card into his Duel Disk, causing Breaker the Magical Warrior to suddenly re-emerge onto the field, "My suggestion is that you learn to enjoy the present, and quickly, because I doubt that your plans for the future are going to turn out as well as you think they are. I play Breaker Revival, which summons a Breaker from my graveyard and places a counter on them (1900/1000)!"

Nobuyuki snorted, and crossed his arms over his chest, "You may have that monster back, but what good will it do? And really, what's gotten into you, reviving the Magical Warrior? You should've summoned Monster Breaker. At least then you could've destroyed Cyber Shocker."

"I'm aware of that," Kai responded, "but you shouldn't question your opponent's strategy, because in the end it'll make you look stupid. I summon Soul Breaker (1600+300/1000)!" Next to Breaker, a new mage emerged, wearing the robes and armor of the Breakers in an elegant green. "Now, I activate Soul Breaker's effect by sacrificing his counter," Kai continued, and the new Breaker's purple-bladed sword became surrounded by a green aura, which gradually turned to a shadowy black.

Nobuyuki blinked, noticing this change, "What's with the color? Before, when your Breakers used effects, they were the same color as their armor. But Soul Breaker's effect doesn't match…" his eyes suddenly widened in realization as Soul Breaker swung his blade, launching a burst of black energy at Cyber Shocker, "it's the same color as Monster Breaker's effect!" The black orb struck his humanoid machine, causing it to explode impact.

"Exactly," Kai stated, as Breaker's sword began glowing with a red aura, "Soul Breaker does not have an effect of his own. Instead, he activates the power of one of his fallen brethren, from the graveyard. And now Breaker the Magical Warrior activates his effect to destroy one of your facedown cards!" The red-robed mage swung his sword, launching a blast of energy that blew apart one of Nobuyuki's two set cards and leaving him with only one.

Nobuyuki scowled, as suddenly his Cyber Demon's color dimmed, and it crouched close to the ground, "I activate Systems Shut Down in chain to its destruction. This switches a Machine on my field to defense mode and prevents you from attacking this turn. The second effect doesn't matter too much, considering Cyber Demon's defense is too high for you to overcome (Soul Breaker, Breaker the Magical Warrior: 1600/1000)."

Kai narrowed his eyes, and swept an arm at the card in front of him, his single remaining set card from last turn. "Because a monster on my field lost attack points," he stated as the trap flipped up, "Card of Last Will now lets me draw five cards." In a single motion, he did so, now giving himself a full hand size of six cards. After a brief glance over his options, he simply set one card into his Duel Disk, causing it to appear facedown in front of him, then played another card, "I set one card facedown and play Poison of the Old Man. I choose its second effect, increasing my Life Points by 1200 (Kai LP: 1900). End turn."

Nobuyuki drew, then drew again from the effect of Cyber Demon. "Destroying Cyber Shocker once isn't enough, boy," he said with a sneer, "I'm far better than that. Activate Monster Reborn, reviving Cyber Shocker!" Kai's eyes widened as the pale-armored machine rose up from the ground, and glared at him through the odd blue lenses mounted on its face. Nobuyuki grinned, and slid the other remaining card from his hand into his Duel Disk, causing his Cyber Demon to suddenly break apart into a pile of spare parts. Then he drew two cards from his deck, explaining, "Disassemble lets me sacrifice a machine to draw one card for every two levels of the sacrificed machine. Cyber Demon is a level four, so I draw two. And now, I set one card facedown before activating the card I already have facedown." One of the two cards in his hand appeared next to the previously set card, which flipped up, revealing a turret filled with missiles. "Full Burst forces me to discard my whole hand, then deals you two hundred damage per card I discard." A single missile shot from the turret, flying towards Kai and blowing up in the bi-eyed teen's face. Kai stumbled, but managed to prevent himself from falling over (Kai LP: 1700). Nobuyuki looked extremely satisfied with himself as he waved Cyber Shocker forward, and the machine launched a laser from its eyes, incinerating Soul Breaker (Kai LP: 900).

Kai cringed, but didn't cry out. It had been pure chance that he had drawn Poison of the Old Man last turn, otherwise he would have lost thanks to Nobuyuki's most recent assault. He swiftly drew, determined to fight back despite the wear and tear on his body. His determination was quickly rewarded. "I play Breaker's Stealth Attack, and then summon Dimensional Breaker (1600+300/1000)!" he declared, slapping down the newest Breaker, which appeared in front of him, wearing robes that shimmered across the entire spectrum of colors. "I sacrifice Dimensional Breaker's counter now, removing Cyber Shocker from the game!" Nobuyuki's eyes widened at this declaration, as the newest Breaker launched a shimmering wave of energy that slammed into the tall machine, forming a vortex in the cyborg's torso that sucked the being into itself in mere moments. "And Breaker's Stealth Attack then activates. Whenever a Breaker activates their effect, Stealth Attack will deal you two hundred damage!" Nobuyuki grimaced as a pale blue glow surrounded his body, sapping away a small bit of his energy (Nobuyuki LP: 2000).

Nobuyuki growled, and slammed his finger on a button on his Duel Disk. Immediately, his set card flipped up, and a large, golden, quadruped machine rose from the ground. "I activate Call of the Haunted to revive the monster I discarded with Full Burst. Come forth, Mechanical Hound (2800/1500)!" The gold-plated machine let out a faux howl, then lowered its head to sweep its gaze over the two much smaller mages. "Mechanical Hound is the counterpart to Cyber Shocker: when I have no cards in my hand, Mechanical Hound prevents you from activating spell cards!"

Kai grimaced, and looked at the unused cards in his hand. "I see…then I'll just switch Breaker to defense mode." Breaker lowered himself into a kneeling position, and as he completed the movement, a portal suddenly appeared in front of Dimensional Breaker, and the mage stepped into it before it disappeared. "Dimensional Breaker is removed from play at the end of the turn his effect is activated," Kai explained.

"Whatever," Nobuyuki said dismissively, drawing a card and immediately playing it, causing a large, white and orange-plated mechanical bird to appear next to the larger Mechanical Hound. "Cyber Phoenix (1200/1200) prevents any machines on my field from being targeted by effects. That means this duel is over, since your facedown card can no longer stop Mechanical Hound. Speaking of which, my hound attacks Breaker!" The immense robotic canine opened its mouth and let out a bark, at the same time launching a burst of flame that swept over the field towards Kai's Breaker.

"You should know better than to think that you're safe if my cards can't target your monsters," Kai stated, as his set card flipped up and a massive, reflective barrier swept in front of his mage, knocking the wave of flame back at Nobuyuki's monsters and incinerating them, "after all, Mirror Force is one of the best traps in the game, and it doesn't declare a specific target." He crossed his arms over his chest, and smirked in triumph, "And now you're out of cards."

Nobuyuki, however, was grinning, "Not quite. Cyber Phoenix has one other effect in addition to the protection it provides machines." He drew a single card from his deck, and looked at it before slipping it into his Duel Disk, "When it is destroyed, I draw one card. And since I drew it, I'll now play Return to Power, which returns all monsters to the field that were on the field at the beginning of the turn." A mechanical growl echoed across the field, as Nobuyuki's Mechanical Hound reared back into view. And with no cards in Nobuyuki's hand, Kai couldn't activate spell cards.

Kai drew a card, and bit his lip before adding it to his hand, "I set one monster in defense mode, and end my turn." With Mechanical Hound's effect active, he couldn't do anything else.

Kaiba narrowed his eyes at this turn of events, _'I should've expected this. Kai's Breakers are a family of spell casters, and many themed spell casters rely on a large number of spells to reach their maximum capability. Without this option available to him, Kai is on the defensive, even more so than a duelist with a different strategy would be.'_

Nobuyuki smirked, drew a card, glanced at it, and immediately set it behind his Mechanical Hound so that its effect could remain active. Without needing his word, the beast let loose another burst of flame, hitting the set monster and revealing it to be a gray-armored Breaker with a more curved sword than the previous ones.

"You destroyed Breaker Blader (1600/1000)," Kai stated simply, before drawing to begin his turn. He bit his lip again when he glanced at it, but said nothing. Still, it was obvious that he could do nothing as he silently fanned his cards together and crossed his arms over his chest.

"This is getting slightly boring," said Nobuyuki, though he was still grinning as he drew a card, "but I don't care too much, because it won't take me much longer to end this. I play Heavy Storm." A twister swept across the field quickly, tearing up Kai's Breaker's Swift Strike along with Nobuyuki's own set card. Another blast of flame swept from the Mechanical Hound's mechanical maw, incinerating Kai's last remaining defense. "And I end my turn."

Kai drew, and felt a surge of relief come over him before placing the new card on his Duel Disk. A Breaker wearing ocean-blue robes stepped onto the field, its sword already glowing the same deep blue shaded. As it took up its position on Kai's field, the Breaker swung its blade, launching a burst of energy that sent the Mechanical Hound stumbling backwards. Nobuyuki gasped in surprise as the golden armor covering his machine dulled, and began rusting over. "What's going on?" he demanded.

"This is Effect Breaker (1600/1000)," Kai declared, eyes blazing as he fingered the four remaining cards in his hand, "during my Main Phase, I can remove his counter to remove the effect of a monster on the field. Therefore, Mechanical Hound can no longer prevent me from activating spells." He pressed a button on his Duel Disk, opening a slot at its side before he placed a card in it. Immediately, a large, ornate building composed of white marble rose behind him. Much of the structure was hidden behind an immense wall, but two towers capped by triangular roofs could easily be seen jutting up behind it. "Activate Field card, Breaker Temple!" Declared Kai, as the two towers of the Temple began glowing, and Effect Breaker raised his sword to the sky, its blade glowing in tandem with the towers behind its wielder. "While my Field card is active, all Breakers on the field gain three hundred attack points. In addition, I can add a counter to any Breaker on my field that currently possesses no counters, though this effect can only be activated once per turn per Breaker (Effect Breaker: 2200/1000)."

Nobuyuki scowled, instantly realizing that this Field card presented Kai a tremendous advantage. "Still…" he said, partially to himself, "your Effect Breaker is too weak to stand against Mechanical Hound. In my next turn, I'll simply crush it!"

Kai smirked, his eyes flashing in contrasting colors as he selected another two cards from his hand and placed them in his Duel Disk. "You're forgetting how many cards I have in my hand, and that I can use all of them now that Mechanical Hound's effect is gone. I set one card facedown and activate the Equip card, Breaker's Blade!" Effect Breaker's sword suddenly glowed, and its shape began shifting, from the plain purple blade into a heavier, more ornate broadsword. When its shape finally settled, it looked as large as a two-handed sword, though Effect Breaker appeared to be wielding it one-handed without any trouble. "Breaker's Blade can only be equipped to a Breaker, and increases the equipped Breaker's attack by five hundred points," Kai explained, "and also, when activated, a counter is placed on it, which acts just like it's a counter on the equipped monster. Therefore, overall Effect Breaker's attack is increased by eight hundred points (3000/1000)! Effect Breaker, destroy the Mechanical Hound!" The blue-robed mage leapt gracefully through the air, coming level with the Hound's head and then slashing with his blade through its neck. The immense robot crumpled to the ground, and then the remnants shook the arena with a powerful explosion. "End turn," (Nobuyuki LP: 1800).

Nobuyuki grimaced as he top-decked, but a brief glance at his drawn card set his face back into a confident smirk. "If you thought you had the advantage because I'm top-decking, you were wrong. My deck and my strategy are at their best when I have no cards in my hand, and now I'll demonstrate that by playing Twilight Renewal! If it's the only card in my hand when I activate it, I can immediately draw five cards!" He confidently swiped five new cards from the top of his deck, giving him a large number of options to work with. "Hm…it seems it's time for me to change strategies," Nobuyuki announced, placing one card from his hand onto his Duel Disk. Immediately, a large, serpentine machine appeared on the field, and poised like a snake preparing to strike.

Kaiba's eyes widened at the sight of the creature, _'That's one of the most powerful cards from the latest set!'_ he realized as the machine roared in challenge at Kai.

"Cyber Dragon (2100/1500) in defense mode!" declared Nobuyuki powerfully.

"Twenty-one-hundred attack…" Kai murmured, then spoke up, "but how could you summon such a powerful monster without a sacrifice?"

"Cyber Dragon's effect," Nobuyuki declared, "allows it to be Special Summoned from my hand if I have no monsters on the field and my opponent does."

Kai narrowed his eyes as he looked at the Cyber Dragon, and thought this over, _'Effect Breaker can remove the effect of a monster on my turn, or at any time negate the effect of a monster. But it doesn't destroy the monster whose effect it negates, so if I try to negate Cyber Dragon's summon effect, it'll simply return to Nobuyuki's hand. From there, he can just summon it again, and the cycle will repeat until Effect Breaker has no counters left. Which means I can't stop him from summoning it… But he's summoned it in defense mode, meaning he won't use it to attack in any way, so I should be safe.'_

Nobuyuki flipped around one of the remaining cards in his hand, "I activate Bonds of Brothers, paying a thousand Life Points (Nobuyuki LP: 800) to summon two Proto Cyber Dragons (1100/600)." Two machines similar in appearance to the Cyber Dragon appeared flanking it. Their plating was rounded as opposed to the Cyber Dragon's edged shape, and was also a darker color. "These monsters are treated as being named 'Cyber Dragon' while face-up on the field."

Kai frowned as Nobuyuki said this. "What's the point of having them, then?" he asked, "They're just weaker versions of the normal Cyber Dragon."

Nobuyuki chuckled, and slid a card into his Duel Disk, "You obviously aren't familiar with some of the latest cards in the game. The Cyber Dragons have some very powerful support cards, but many of them require that the duelist have at least one Cyber Dragon already in play, and in most cases at least two. Now, I activate Photon Generator Unit, which requires me to sacrifice two Cyber Dragons from my field. I am then allowed to summon Cyber Laser Dragon to the field (2400/1800)!" The two Proto Cyber Dragons disappeared in a flash of light, and in their place a longer version of the Cyber Dragon, with spines jutting from various parts of its sinuous body, green streaks running along its otherwise white armor, and a barb-like laser cannon attached to the tip of its tail. "Unfortunately, Cyber Laser Dragon was in my hand, so that leaves me with just one card left in my hand," Nobuyuki stated, "in addition, I'm summoning it in defense mode, since I can't destroy Effect Breaker. However, that doesn't stop me from activating its effect. Once per turn, Cyber Laser Dragon can destroy a monster on the field with a higher attack or defense than its own!"

The laser on the Dragon's tail started to charge up, but Kai cut it off with a wave of his arm towards Effect Breaker, who swung his sword immediately, launching a burst of energy from his blade that struck the laser before it could go off. "I sacrifice the counter on Effect Breaker to negate your monster's effect (2700/1000)."

Nobuyuki nodded, "I anticipated such. I set one monster in defense mode, and end my turn." A third monster appeared next to his two coiling machines, hidden from view because it was facedown.

Kai drew sharply, and motioned to the structure of the Breaker Temple behind him, "I activate Breaker Temple's effect, adding a counter to Effect Breaker, as currently his only counter is attached to Breaker's Blade, and not directly to him (3000/1000)." He flipped around a card from his hand, and suddenly Effect Breaker's attack began decreasing again (2400/1000). "I activate Counter Bid, sacrificing counters from my field to a maximum of three in order to draw that many cards, plus one. I sacrifice two counters, therefore I draw three cards." The cards slid easily in his hand alongside the one he was already holding, and he looked over his options quickly before selecting a card. "I summon Attack Breaker (1600 + 300 + 300/1000)," he declared, a Breaker in tan robes appearing next to Effect Breaker. "Next," Kai continued, "I play Breaker Archives. This sets all Breakers on the field to the maximum number of counters they can hold."

Nobuyuki blinked, somewhat confused, "But each Breaker can only hold a maximum of one counter. Why would it be worded that way?"

Kai smirked, and pointed up at the Breaker Temple behind him, "Breaker Temple increases the maximum number of counters all Breakers can hold from one to three. That means that both my Breakers now possess three counters, and Effect Breaker has a fourth because of Breaker's Blade (2800/1000) (3600/1000)!" Both Breakers raised their respective swords in the air, each blade surrounded by a brilliant aura of energy matching the color of its wielder's armored robes. "Breakers, attack Cyber Laser Dragon and the facedown monster!" The two mages complied, charging towards Nobuyuki's field and swinging their resonating blades through the two machines. Nobuyuki's facedown monster turned out to be another Proto Cyber Dragon, which was visible for only a split second before it was cleaved in half and disappeared. "I set one card facedown to end my turn," Kai concluded, the card appearing next to the single facedown already present on his field.

Nobuyuki drew, and smirked as he played it, "Treasure of Slashing Life lets me draw until I hold five cards. On my fifth turn after activating the card, I discard my hand." He grinned as he added five cards to his hand, once again quickly replenishing himself after using up all of his resources. He immediately slapped a card into his Duel Disk and chuckled while declaring, "This card is the beginning of the end. Activate Renewal of Triplets!" All three Proto Cyber Dragons immediately rose up before him, surrounding the Cyber Dragon. "Because all three Proto Cyber Dragons were in my graveyard, I can summon them to my field." He activated one of the four cards remaining in his hand, and a familiar swirling vortex appeared just above his monsters, "And now I activate Polymerization, fusing all three Proto Cyber Dragons into the mighty Cyber End Dragon (4000/2800)!" The three Proto Cyber Dragons floated up into the vortex, shifting and merging until an immense, three-headed version of the Cyber Dragon emerged in their place. Each of the heads was slightly differently designed, and large metal wings sprouted from the creature's back.

Kai's eyes widened in fear as he stared up at the behemoth of a machine, _'I've never…seen something like this before…'_

Kaiba frowned, _'I see…Cyber End Dragon is the equivalent of the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon for a Cyber Dragon deck. It's weaker, but easier to summon, and also has the ability to deal damage through defense. Still, I doubt I'd have much trouble defeating it. This Kai guy, on the other hand…I can't be so sure about him.'_

"Cyber End Dragon," Nobuyuki commanded, pointing at Attack Breaker as the three-headed machine opened all of its mouths, which crackled with energy, "Final Evolution Burst!" Three identical blasts of orange energy surged from the mouths of the Cyber End Dragon, their powers merging into a single wave of destruction that swept towards Attack Breaker and smash into it in a devastating explosion that sent smoke and flame everywhere. Nobuyuki smirked, "The blast from that attack should have been enough. The game is mine, and your body must've been torn apart, boy."

"I told you," Kai's voice resonated from within the smoke, causing Nobuyuki's eyes to widen, "don't call me that! Attack Breaker's effect lets me sacrifice a counter on him to negate one attack!" The smoke and dust finally settled, revealing that Attack Breaker had planted his sword in the ground and a transparent, tan-shaded barrier was standing in front of Kai's field. As Kai finished speaking, the mage tore the blade out of the ground, and the barrier fell.

"Damn it…" Nobuyuki muttered, "you just can't be a good little insect and die, can you? Fine, I end my turn." For the first time, he actually had cards in his hand at the end of his turn.

"I draw," Kai declared, doing just that as he spoke. "I play Tiny Pound Hammer, which allows me to shuffle it and any number of cards in my hand into my deck. I then draw an equal number of cards." Kai quickly did so, shuffling his entire hand of two cards into his deck before sliding the stack back into his Duel Disk and drawing a new pair of cards. He quickly slid the chosen cards into his Duel Disk, completely filling up his back field. "I set two cards facedown, and end my turn." In his mind, he was trying to come up with some plan to destroy Nobuyuki's monster. _'I've already used one Breaker Revival, along with Monster Breaker, Soul Breaker, and Dimensional Breaker. There are a few more Breakers left in my deck that can get monsters off the field, but…'_

Kai looked up to see that Nobuyuki was laughing at a card he had drawn and just played. In the midst of his laughter, a second Cyber Dragon appeared next to the one already on his field, and the two shimmered before merging into one. "Power Bond allows me to fuse my two Cyber Dragons into Cyber Twin Dragon (2800/1500), whose attack is doubled from the effect of Power Bond!" Nobuyuki declared delightedly as a two-headed Cyber Dragon appeared next to the three headed one, and roared in challenge at Kai's two Breakers (5600/1500). Nobuyuki's laughter soon died down, and he jerked a finger at Kai's field. "Cyber Twin Dragon, destroy Attack Breaker!" One of the mechanical dragon's two head opened its maw, and let out a burst of energy that surged towards the tan-robed mage.

Kai snapped his fingers, and Attack Breaker's sword plunged into the ground, summoning a transparent barrier that blocked the attack before fading. "I sacrifice one of Attack Breaker's (2200/1000) counters to negate the attack."

Nobuyuki simply smiled. "Cyber Twin Dragon can attack twice during the same Battle Phase. Go again! Twin Evolution Burst!" The Dragon's other head immediately let out an identical blast of power, which slammed into another barrier that Attack Breaker (1900/1000) summoned. "And now Cyber End Dragon will finish it off now that it has no counters! Final Evolution Burst!" The larger dragon let loose its own attack, this one not as powerful as the two previous ones in attack power but with far more physical forth and size.

"Activate trap card!" Kai declared, and one of the four facedown cards flipped up, causing the orb on Attack Breaker's shield to glow. "Breaker's Shield adds a counter to one Breaker on the field upon activate (2200/1000). That counter can be sacrifice for the Breaker's effect, or to negate one attack. Of course, with Attack Breaker that doesn't matter, but still…" Attack Breaker (1900/1000) once again called forth a barrier, holding back the massive blast of energy and protecting Kai's Life Points. As soon as the attack had dispersed, another of Kai's facedown cards tilted up, revealing a second Card of Last Will. "Because Attack Breaker's attack fell, I can now draw five cards," he stated, going from no cards in hand to five immediately.

Nobuyuki did not appear to mind this turn of events in the slightest. "Idiot boy," he stated, "do you really think you can stop me that easily? I activate the quick-play card from my hand, Twin Evolution Burst! This grants all Cyber Dragon monsters on my field an additional Battle Phase this turn!" He cackled insanely as the two machines' combined five heads total roared as one and fired a barrage of energy from their mouths, the blasts combining into one single wave of power the size of Kai's entire field.

Kai grimaced and jerked a hand towards Effect Breaker, who raised his sword and sent up four surges of magic into the sky. "I sacrifice all four of Effect Breaker's counters!" Kai declared, one of his two remaining facedowns flipping up. "Breaker Light lets me sacrifice three counters in order to prevent any Breakers from being destroyed this turn!" He then slammed one of the five newly-drawn cards in his hand onto his Duel Disk. Immediately, a small ball of brown fur wearing orange robes in the style of the Breakers bounced onto the field, carrying a miniature sword and shield. "By sacrificing one counter, I can then summon Breaker Kuriboh (300 + 300/200) to the field, who when summoned this way negates all Battle damage to my Life Points this turn!" Just as Kai finished saying this, the torrent of orange energy impacted on his field, blinding everything from view for almost twenty seconds before the dust kicked up by the blast finally settled.

Nobuyuki coughed up a bit of smoke he had breathed in, and slammed the final card in his hand into his Duel Disk. "Avoid Payment can be activated when one of my own cards would cause my Life Points to decrease," he stated, "Instead, I gain double the amount I would lose. Power Bond deals its player damage equal to the base attack of the monster summoned by its effect at the end of the turn it is activated. By activating Avoid Payment, I now gain fifty-six hundred Life Points instead of losing twenty-eight hundred (Nobuyuki LP: 6400).

Kai grimaced, gasping slightly from the exertion his body was going through. Even when Attack Breaker's effect was blocking Nobuyuki's attacks, they had so much force behind them that Kai's body was being affected by the aftershock. He drew a fifth card, and sighed with relief. He knew what he was going to do now. "Breaker Temple activates," he declared, as the structure behind him glowed, "all three of my Breakers now gain a counter (Effect Breaker: 2700/1000, Attack Breaker: 2200/1000, Breaker Kuriboh: 900/200)." He slid two cards into his Duel Disk, and then began manipulating the monster cards that were placed on it. Each of the three monsters dipped into a crouching position, indicating they were in defense mode. "I set one card facedown and play Effect Economics. Following that, I switch all of my Breakers to defense mode."

Nobuyuki merely shrugged, "Cyber End Dragon can deal damage through defense, so that's hardly an iss-" He suddenly cut himself off and realized his own mistake. Behind Kai, Kaiba smirked in some degree of amusement.

"In that case, I activate Effect Breaker's ability," Kai stated, as the Cyber End Dragon was struck by a burst of blue energy, "your Dragon's effect has just been removed, so that's nothing to worry about (Effect Breaker: 2400/1000). With that, I'll end my turn."

Nobuyuki huffed, and drew a card before immediately playing it. "Tune-Up lets me draw one card for every machine on the field," he stated, pulling two cards from his deck, "meaning I draw two more cards." He smirked as he looked the cards over, and looked up at the crouching Breaker Kuriboh. "I'm guessing Breaker Kuriboh can sacrifice its counter when you're attacked to activate that damage negation ability, right? It wouldn't have the ability to hold counters for any other reason."

Kai didn't say anything in response, but his expression was enough to tell Nobuyuki all he needed to know. "I thought so. Which means I'll just have to destroy it without attacking it. And I had the perfect card for the job…" He slid one of his two cards into his Duel Disk, and the Cyber Twin Dragon suddenly let loose a burst of flame that burned Breaker Kuriboh to ashes. "Evolution Burst can destroy a monster on the field when Cyber Dragon or one of its evolutions is on my field," Nobuyuki explained, as he pressed a button on his Duel Disk. Kai's eyes widened as he realized that the Field card slot of Nobuyuki's Duel Disk was opening. Kaiba bore a similar expression on his face as Nobuyuki slammed the final remaining card in his hand into his Duel Disk, and a column of green energy erupted around him.

"Activate Field card," Nobuyuki declared, as the Breaker Temple crumbled and a large green ring encompassed the field, "Seal of Orichalcos! With this in place, the loser of the duel will lose their soul. In addition, my monsters all become Dark in attribute and gain five hundred attack points (4500/2800) (6100/1500)!" His machines roared collectively as their combined five foreheads became adorned with the symbol of Orichalcos, identical to the design of the arena and the one that was now present on Nobuyuki's own forehead. "Cyber End Dragon, Cyber Twin Dragon…" he cast his hand forward violently, a sadistic grin plastered across his face, "crush him! Genocide Evolution Burst!" A deafening scream resounded from the mouths of the dragons, their generators whining as each of the creatures released ridiculous amounts of energy in a single strike, nearly consuming Kai's entire field and drowning out his voice as he commanded Attack Breaker (1900/1000) to negate one of the attacks. The sheer force of the resulting explosion picked up Kai bodily and flung him against the wall of the Seal, which shocked him for the attempt to leave the arena and thrust him face-first into the ground.

And then, there was silence. When those present were capable of seeing again, Kai's monsters were gone, completely obliterated by the combined attacks. Kai was knocked nearly unconscious from the force of the blow, and was groaning weakly in pain. Still, his Life Points were untouched, and he was still in the duel. Nobuyuki was panting slightly, catching his breath following his enthusiastic laughter and yells. "I'm going to win, boy…" he breathed out, "I'm going to win, you're going to die…it's inevitable…I'm better than you, stronger than you, smarter than you…With the Seal of Orichalcos on my side, this is the equivalent of me firing a rocket launcher at a cockroach. You've done a good job of running for cover, boy, but your time's run out…Now I'm going to kill you…"

"No…" Kai gasped out, shifting unsteadily and pushing weakly against the ground. Eventually, he heaved himself up, uncertainly poised on his legs. "I'm not going to die…" his eyes were fierce, as if they possessed an energy that the rest of his body did not. He slowly moved a hand to his Duel Disk, and pressed a button on it. One of his set cards flipped up, and suddenly his deck spat five cards out at him. "I activate Breaker Council, to add five Breakers from my deck to my hand. They cannot be summoned in the turn Breaker Council is activated, but that doesn't matter since I'm activating it during your turn." He turned his head, gesturing to the face-up Effect Economics, "Because of my permanent spell, neither player has to pay Life Points to activate effects, which negates the normal thousand-point cost of Breaker Council."

Nobuyuki sneered, "So what? You're going to sic some more of your weak little Breakers on me? Get it through your head, boy, no matter how many effects your monsters have, the pure power that my machines and I possess will simply crush them."

Kai grinned, the motion causing a narrow cut on his lip to open up and send a trickle of blood falling down his chin. Then he drew, his posture straightening with the beginning of his turn. "You want some power?" his eyes narrowed, still sparking with an internal strength. And then he summoned a monster. Just like all of his monsters, it was a Breaker. However, this mage was different. While all Breakers, save Kuriboh, had visible blue faces covered by the hoods of their armored robes, this one's head was completely hidden by the shadow of its robe. Fierce red eyes glowed from within the hood, accentuated by the color of its robes, a flowing crimson and black that looked very much like blood. It had no shield, and its sword was not a straight, slim purple blade but a long, silver broadsword. A curved blade also extended from the end of the hilt, perpendicular to the larger blade. The Breaker also wore a cape, the same shade of its robes, so that it blended in perfectly except when the wind blew, and it flapped out. "This," Kai introduced, as the Breaker flipped its sword about and planted the main blade into the ground before resting its hands on the hilt. And Nobuyuki realized that from this angle, the sword looked exactly like a scythe, "is Necro Breaker (1600 + 300/1000)."

Nobuyuki shook his head, and with the motion shook off the fear that had gripped him as a result of the Breaker's intimidating appearance. "It's too weak to do anything," he said dismissively, "just like you, boy."

"I'm going to make sure you never get the chance to call me by that annoying title again," Kai promised, as his remaining facedown card flipped up, "I activate Breaker's Sword Dance, which would normally cost one thousand Life Points but costs nothing because of Effect Economics. During this turn, one Breaker on my field has no limit to the number of counters it can hold. And my choice, of course, is Necro Breaker."

Nobuyuki narrowed his eyes, "I don't see the point to any of this. It doesn't matter if you can put a bunch of counters on Necro Breaker if you don't have the means to do so."

Kai scowled, "Idiot. I activate Necro Breaker's effect (1600/1000)!" The mage spun on his heel, in the same motion kicking his sword up into the air as his cape swept about his body. The mage completed the turn facing Kai, and caught the sword by its blade, gauntlets protecting his hands, and wielded it now like a scythe. The Breaker swung the scythe blade in a practiced, elegant movement towards Kai, sending out a blood-shaded burst of energy that struck the graveyard slot of his Duel Disk. A single card floated out of the slot, and Kai caught it out of the air. "By sacrificing Necro Breaker's counter, I can 'break' the barrier between life and death. That is…" he slipped the retrieved card into his Duel Disk, causing Necro Breaker to become surrounded by a crimson aura, "I can add a spell or trap from my graveyard to my hand. Therefore, I can play Breaker Archives, and when it affects a Breaker with no counter limit, it adds five counters to that Breaker instead of setting it at its maximum (3100/1000)."

"Thirty-one hundred?" Nobuyuki quirked an eyebrow, "that's still far too weak, bo-"

"Idiot," Kaiba cut the man off, realizing what was about to happen, "haven't you ever heard of an Infinite Loop?" Nobuyuki's eyes widened as he finally realized what this meant. He shifted his gaze back to Kai, who met his fearful eyes with a determined look of two different colors.

"That's right," Kai stated, as Necro Breaker slashed towards his Duel Disk again, allowing him to pick up and replay Breaker Archives (Necro Breaker: 4300/1000). "With no limit to the number of counters Necro Breaker can hold, I can play Breaker Archives to add a net gain of four counters at a time to him, an infinite number of times." Necro Breaker held his sword-scythe out, and fired a continuous stream of crimson magic at Kai's graveyard slot, and Kai responded by pushing the Duel Disk out, the spell/trap zone he had been playing Breaker Archives in launching a green stream of energy back at Necro Breaker, completing the loop.

Nobuyuki was on his knees now, staring in awe and horror of Kai's monster. Kaiba, though very much surprised to see such a combo pulled off, was calmer. _'There's more to this combo than an infinitely-powerful monster,'_ Kaiba realized, _'because Kai can also pick up Breaker Revival and Breaker's Sword Dance. He could have an infinite burn combo with Life Breaker, or an infinite number of infinite-strength attacks with Breaker Blader's multiple-attack ability. This Kaethen guy…he has potential…'_

"It's over," Kai declared, the loop of energy between himself and Necro Breaker (Infinite/1000) suddenly breaking. Necro Breaker turned around and flipped his sword over, grasping it by the handle and wielding it as a sword once again. "Necro Breaker, attack!" Kai yelled, and the mage leapt into the air, and effortlessly swung his sword. An immeasurably mighty flash of power ripped through the air, all substance in its path simply ceasing to exist. Both of Nobuyuki's machines were torn apart instantaneously, and Nobuyuki screamed in pain as the number displayed on his Duel Disk plummeted (Nobuyuki LP: 0) before the device simply shattered, impaling Nobuyuki's body with shrapnel.

The Seal closed rapidly around Nobuyuki's body, and as it did so, he managed to speak quietly through a mask of pure shock. "How…how could someone like you…do something…that completely eclipsed anything I could ever do…"

Kai's eyes narrowed as he looked down on Nobuyuki. "Because you were wrong about which of us was the weak little boy," he said. And then Nobuyuki was gone. The shadows surrounding them vanished, leaving all three of them surrounded by a shocked crowd of onlookers. Kai nearly collapsed to the ground, but managed to remain on his feet.

"Seto!" Mokuba cried out, running towards his older brother with a relieved expression on his face.

"I'm fine," Kaiba stated calmly. He glanced about quickly at the surrounding crowd. "Let's move, I don't think it'd be wise for us to stay here much longer." He looked over his shoulder at Kai, "Kaethen, let's move!"

Kai nodded, and slowly began to follow the Kaiba brothers back to their jet.

XdXaXmXnX XyXoXuX,X XfXaXnXfXiXcXtXiXoXnX.XnXeXtX.X.X.XIX XsXwXeXaXrX XIX'XlXlX XkXiXlXlX XyXoXuX

Author's Notes: Ah, it's good to be back in the writer's chair. I've been busy for awhile, and I had a writer's block. Yeah, I know it's the same excuse I have all the time. Deal with it. For those of you who didn't notice, I think Necro Breaker is a really cool card. Hence I gave it a really cool physical appearance.

Kai Kaethen was created by Time Mage, so it's fitting that this chapter be dedicated to him.

Original cards this chapter:

Cards by me: Cheap Production, Cyber Soldier, Cyber Shocker, Systems Shut Down, Disassemble, Dimensional Breaker, Return to Power, Breaker's Blade, Counter Bid, Breaker's Shield, Twin Evolution Burst, Breaker Kuriboh, Avoid Payment, Tune-Up, Breaker's Sword Dance

Cards by Time Mage: Life Breaker, Blitz Counterattack, Breaker Revival, Soul Breaker, Breaker's Stealth Attack, Breaker Temple, Attack Breaker, Breaker Light, Breaker Council, Necro Breaker, Breaker Archives

Cards by Seeker of the Soul: Quick Attack, Repayment of Losses, Monster Breaker, Breaker Blader, Effect Breaker, Twilight Renewal, Renewal of Triplets, Effect Economics, Evolution Burst

_The first leg of the journey is two-thirds complete, but danger still lies ahead for the story's heroes. Nick travels to America to find the final non-Japanese guardian, but is too late to prevent a confrontation with one of Todaku's most loyal followers. Can the newest member of the group defeat this overwhelming strategy?_

_Next Time: Rise Up From the Depths_


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